Sunday Ticket Appeal is moving forward

Last summer, the NFL suffered a stunning defeat in a Sunday Ticket conference game. Until the judge erased billions of liability with the stroke of a pen.

An appeal of the decision is moving forward.

Eric Gardner puck Reports indicate that the plaintiffs have resubmitted their initial brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — and that the filing includes an alternative formula for calculating damages.

The case was not concluded due to failure to prove an antitrust violation. Judge Felipe Gutierrez vacated the entire verdict based on perceived flaws in the experts’ testimony regarding financial damage, after he failed to prevent the jury from hearing the evidence.

The appeal could be resolved by ruling that the case must be remanded to the trial court for a new trial on damages, along with an order requiring the NFL to dissolve its current model of selling out-of-market games to consumers through… Sunday ticket project.

Before the change in administrations, the Justice Department expressed support for prosecutors’ efforts to end Sunday’s ticket.

“The NFL’s illegal actions continue,” the government said, according to Gardner. The point is simple – the question of whether proven antitrust violations should end is separate from whether plaintiffs have sufficiently proven the amount of financial damage arising during the period covered by the class action.

Previously, the Ninth Circuit revived the case after another lower court judge dismissed it. It’s possible the appeals court could save the case again in a way that dramatically changes the current system of forcing consumers who want to see one team’s games out of the market to pay a hefty price to access them all.

Regardless of how things play out in the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court is hovering over the entire case. This is where there is a current majority of judges who are philosophically inclined to support the NFL’s position — including a judge who formerly He gave Jerry Jones a Super Bowl ring.