Last month, the NFL was ordered to cough up $4.7 billion as a result of the verdict of the ongoing Sunday Ticket antitrust case against the league, which could cost them up to $14.1 billion under federal laws that triple the amount won in antitrust cases. And naturally, this result could have significant repercussions for the rest of the NFL, which Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones addressed on Sunday.
This result has already led to some difficult discussions as to who will make out the worst when it comes to this significant lawsuit the league is set to have to pay.
According to Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, some owners around the league have already brought up the possibility of the ramifications of the lawsuit potentially eating into player salaries.
On some level, would make some sense when you consider the NFL and the NFL Players Association share all revenues evenly. But the players obviously weren’t the ones who committed the antitrust violation with the Sunday Ticket product, so we could certainly see a lot of upset players if this does end up cutting into their salaries.
Jerry Jones spoke about the situation on Saturday with Nick Harris of the Cowboys team website, detailing that he is expecting “a lot of ramifications” to come from the lawsuit on team salary caps.
“It has to be considered. It doesn’t make me flare, but it’s a fact. I think I know better than anybody of what the cap will be four years from now.”
Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones says he anticipates “a lot of ramifications on cap” increase in future years as a result of NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit.
“It has to be considered. It doesn’t make me flare, but it’s a fact. I think I know better than anybody of what the cap will be… pic.twitter.com/zXc3nyojAj
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) July 27, 2024
Jones is seemingly hinting here that the growth of the league salary cap, which has been rapidly growing, (13.4% increase in 2024) could come to a grinding halt in the coming years.
Only time will tell whether that ends up being true. But Jones does have quite a grasp of the landscape of the NFL, so chances are he is right on the money with this statement.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.