A jury in U.S. District Court ruled Thursday that the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service, according to The Associated Press.

The league was ordered to pay nearly $4.7 billion in damages.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.

Fans can see regional games on Sunday afternoons aired by CBS and Fox but out-of-market games (games that are not being played in your region) are available for purchase as a package through Sunday Ticket.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “Sunday Ticket” was sold through DirecTV until last season when it became a YouTubeTV offering.

According to the lawsuit, the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

The league countered the claim, saying it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs argued that the exemption only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.

The NFL said it would appeal the decision.

“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”

The jury ordered the league to pay $4 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class.

According to the Journal, the damages represent nearly two-thirds of what the NFL takes in annually.

“This case transcends football. This case matters,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said during Wednesday’s closing arguments. “It’s about justice. It’s about telling the 32 team owners who collectively own all the big TV rights, the most popular content in the history of TV — that’s what they have. It’s about telling them that even you cannot ignore the antitrust laws. Even you cannot collude to overcharge consumers. Even you can’t hide the truth and think you’re going to get away with it.”

According to the AP, the lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Last year it was decided that the case could proceed as a class action.

Attesting to its popularity, NFL games accounted for 93 of the 100 most-watched television programs last year, the Journal reported.

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