Jury expected to begin deliberations in NFL 'Sunday Ticket' trial on Wednesday

livemint.com:

class-action lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket" subscribers against the NFL is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday after both sides wrapped up their cases on Monday. U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez will have a conference with attorneys for both sides Tuesday morning to determine final jury instructions.

Gutierrez could also hear a motion from the NFL on Tuesday afternoon to grant judgment as a matter of law to the league because the plaintiffs did not provide enough evidence. Gutierrez will then give final instructions to the jury of five men and three women Wednesday morning before final arguments begin. Each side will get 1 hour, 10 minutes to make their statements with the plaintiffs getting an additional 20 minutes for rebuttal.

The NFL's final witness was Stanford economics professor B. Douglas Bernheim, whose testimony began last Thursday and wrapped up Monday morning. Bernheim reiterated the league's position that selling out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on Fox and CBS to DirecTV from 1994 to 2022 and now Google YouTube TV benefits the fan and creates level competition on the playing field.

Harvard professor Einer Elhauge, a rebuttal witness for the plaintiffs, contended there were no links between the restraints the league put in to make “Sunday Ticket" a premium package and creating competitive balance. Elhauge also testified that the approximately $62.5 million each team gets per year from “Sunday Ticket" would not cause massive ramifications to the league's salary cap or a team's operating budget. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones testified last week that if he was able to sell his out-of-market rights, he would not be in favor of a salary cap.