Thursday, June 6th, 2024 kicked off a trial against the NFL from consumers who are tired of being ripped off. I caught wind of this, and I was thrilled to hear this fight was going on in the courts. The NFL Ticket is being challenged in court and I could not be happier. As a lifelong Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan who moved out of the local viewing area, I am all about following this trial.

I was forced to pay four hundred extra dollars to watch my team on TV. When I found out about this racket, I went through the roof. I love the Bucs so much that I gave in and paid the NFL’s ransom. I did it begrudgingly, but seriously considered just listening to the game on the radio, so I did not have to pay. It is beyond unfair for people who support an NFL team only to be extorted by the league itself. The NFL’s mob-like tactics might come to an end if this trial goes the right way I thought, I was crossing my fingers.

Little by little the NFL is making it hard, if not impossible for some, to follow their favorite team. They are moving all sorts of games to streaming services that not everyone has or even wants. Each year it seems like the league is getting greedier and greedier when it comes to making money. NFL merchandise has long been over the top with their prices. One wonders what a working-class family does if they want to be a fan. It is starting to become a pastime for the rich. The contracts to players are over the top and teams are looking for all sorts of ways to raise money and compete. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, this lawsuit could turn the tide and reign in the money whores.

On June 27, 2024, the jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to residential and commercial subscribers after it ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service. I was over the moon. The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package on DirecTV of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons according to the AP. Now, that did not affect me personally but chalk one up for the little guy.

However, my joy was short-lived, A federal judge later overturned a jury’s $4.7 billion verdict in the class-action lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers against the NFL and has granted judgment to the NFL! U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled Thursday that the testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies and should have been excluded according to press reports. I was devasted, the NFL found a “friendly” judge, and another big class-action lawsuit by the little guy was overturned once again.

I have been a Tampa Bay Fan since I was in third grade. I’m in my fifties now and I have two Super Bowls and nine division titles to brag about. Hell, we have won our division the last three years straight. It is great to be a Bucs Fan. Let’s not spoil the joy of it all by committing an assault on my wallet. I used to watch my team on my black and white TV with its rabbit ears and tinfoil for free. That is how far the Bucs and I have traveled over a lifetime together. Do not punish me for it today.

C. Rich

CRich@AmericaSpeaksInk.com

C. Rich

C. Rich is the voice behind America Speaks Ink, home to the America First Movement. As an author, poet, freelance ghostwriter, and blogger, C. Rich brings a “baked-in” perspective shaped by growing up on the streets and beaches of South Florida in the 1970s-1980s and brings a quintessential Generation-X point of view.

Rich’s writing journey began in 2008 with coverage of the Casey Anthony trial and has since evolved into a wide-ranging exploration of politics, culture, and the issues that define our times. Follow C. Rich’s writing odyssey here at America Speaks Ink and on Amazon with a multi-book series on Donald Trump called “Trump Era: The MAGA Files” and many other books and subjects C. Rich is known to cover.

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