Last week’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket case will have many potential ramifications for the NFL: If Sunday Ticket providers are allowed to set their prices freely, in addition to potential losses of more than $14 billion and changes in television revenue streams, it could have a negative impact on the NFL’s credit rating.
It’s currently in the A to A+ range, but if the league ultimately loses in court and the $14 billion judgment is upheld, that could affect how lenders view the league.
Via Ben Fisher Sports Business JournalFitch Ratings said it would be “closely monitoring” the incident.
“The jury award is significant given the NFL’s enormous revenue generating power,” Fitch wrote.
If the verdict is upheld, the teams could be held liable for more than $440 million — more than double the annual operating revenue of every NFL team except for the Cowboys, as Fisher points out.
This only reinforces recent indications that some teams may struggle to raise the $440 million, potentially leading to further borrowing or selling minority stakes in their teams.
The good news for the NFL is that the appeals process will buy it time to figure out how to pay the money — and it has a good chance of winning.
Otherwise, teams would be spending big money to pay, and the league as a whole could be faced with the challenge of balancing maximum Sunday Ticket revenue with maximum Sunday afternoon broadcast revenue if the league were forced to sell Sunday Ticket rights to a provider that is free to set the price of the package without being coerced by the league office.
