NFL is suing insurance companies over Sunday Ticket antitrust lawsuit

As the NFL continues to battle with insurance companies that (spoiler alert) won’t pay benefits related to the concussion, lawsuits and settlements, Big Shield has filed another battle with Big Insurance over coverage availability for a Sunday Ticket antitrust suit against the NFL in 2015.

Sports lawyer Daniel Wallach revealed the lawsuit, which was filed last November, in a tweet. Wallach then forwarded the complaint and more recent filing to PFT – a document confirming that the insurance companies have until March 13 to respond to the lawsuit.

The generalities go back to the origins of an industry based on taking money and, under the right circumstances, paying money out. If a company’s only product is money, it won’t want to give money away if it shouldn’t. It often doesn’t want to give money away when it should.

In this particular case, the NFL alleges that insurance companies responsible for “excess” coverage (in English: The NFL burned out its primary insurance policy and then turned to backups) refused to pay money that would have cost attorneys’ fees and other would cover expenses. defense against the pending antitrust case. The NFL claims that the providers of additional coverage initially seemed to recognize a responsibility to provide coverage before changing their tone in 2021.

The insurance companies are reportedly trying to link the 2015 antitrust case to a similar 1997 lawsuit, arguing that both cases amount to one “claim” that predates the insurance coverage the league is now trying to trigger.

The stakes are quite high. The complaint points out that the NFL has already exhausted the initial $10 million in available insurance, with all of the money presumably paying only attorneys’ fees and expenses. (Perhaps I should have continued practicing law after all.) The league is now trying to activate multiple layers of additional coverage, with policies covering $10 million to $20 million, $20 million to $30 million, $30 million to $40 million, cover $40 million. to $50 million and $50 million to $60 million.

Again, the Sunday Ticket antitrust case is still pending. While we have yet to delve into that particular process, the potential antitrust issues with Sunday Ticket’s entire approach have always been hidden in plain sight. The league and, from 1994 through 2022, DirecTV, have made the product available for the entire season at one global price. All games that are not on the market, without the ability to purchase specific weekends or individual games.

Regardless of whether the NFL wins or loses the case, legal costs and expenses will continue to rise. More than $10 million has already been earned. How much will be spent before the case is resolved?

Even if the NFL gets the $50 million extra insurance that the new lawsuit is pursuing, the league could consider paying out a lot more, based on how the antitrust case goes. Regardless of the final price tag, the total revenue the NFL has generated from its all-or-nothing approach to Sunday Ticket will dwarf it.

NFL is suing insurance companies over Sunday Ticket antitrust lawsuit

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