NFL Could Give New York Jets a Staggering $450 Million Bill

Even New York Jets fans who never subscribed to the service could see their favorite team take a financial hit from the NFL’s current legal battle over possible antitrust violations from the sale of Sunday Ticket on DirecTV.

The Jets and each of the 31 other NFL franchises could be on the hook for up to $450 million each.

As the newswire services reported Thursday, a U.S. District Court jury has convicted the NFL in a class-action lawsuit involving 2.4 million private subscribers and 48,000 U.S. companies.

All told, the legal action could cost the NFL up to $14.39 billion and the league will then ask teams to foot the bill, according to the Associated Press.

“We are disappointed with today’s jury verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the NFL said in a statement.

An appeals process has been initiated, which will determine the final outcome of the case. The NFL is expected to take the case to the U.S. District Court’s 9th Circuit of Appeals, and there is a chance the case will eventually go to the Supreme Court.

“We will certainly appeal this decision as we believe the class action claims in this case are without merit and without merit,” the league said.

While it may be a steep penalty for the Jets, team owner Woody Johnson has a portfolio that would survive such a blow.
He bought the Jets in 2000 for a reported $635 million. Sportico valued the franchise earlier this year at more than $6 billion.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s initial wealth comes from the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune. He is known as a loyal Republican in the political arena and served as the US ambassador to the UK under the administration of President Donald Trump (2017-21).

According to Forbes, Johnson listed in his “2017 federal financial disclosure that he had $1.7 billion in assets outside of the Jets.”

Johnson, an active user on the social media site now known as Xhas, as expected, not yet publicly responded to the court ruling.