Utah Sen. Mike Lee is requesting an inquiry into a federal law that has allowed NFL teams to be exempt from certain broadcasting restrictions, arguing the statute may now be out of date thanks to streaming subscription services and paywalled media.
In a letter sent to the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Lee requested administration officials to investigate whether the Sports Broadcasting Act passed in 1961 still makes sense in the new media landscape. The law was originally meant to ensure access to fans but has now become complicated in a world where sports enjoyers must pay for multiple streaming services at a time in order to watch a full NFL season.
“To watch every NFL game during this past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Lee wrote. “In practice, this requires subscribing to multiple streaming services and maintaining high-speed internet in addition to a traditional cable or satellite bundle. The resulting fragmentation has produced consumer confusion and increasing costs for viewers attempting to watch their teams.”
The Sports Broadcasting Act was intended to allow the NFL to collectively sell its broadcast rights to television networks, exempting it from antitrust rules that other companies must follow. That was done to ensure that sports fans could watch the NFL games on advertiser-supported television networks at no additional cost.
That law was created when there were only a handful of national TV networks broadcasting the games. But with the rise of streaming services and premium cable channels, Lee is now asking whether the law needs to be revised to reflect current needs.
“Instead of a small number of free broadcast networks, the NFL now licenses games simultaneously to subscription streaming platforms, premium cable networks, and technology companies operating under different business models,” Lee wrote. “To the extent collectively licensed game packages are placed behind subscription paywalls, these arrangements may no longer align with the statutory concept of sponsored telecasting or the consumer-access rationale underlying the antitrust exemption.”
Lee’s letter comes after the Federal Communications Commission last week announced it is seeking public comment as part of an inquiry into the shift of live sports being moved from broadcast channels to streaming services. The House Judiciary Committee similarly requested information from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB last year to determine whether these antitrust exemptions should still apply.
Just last season, the NFL aired its games on platforms such as ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Amazon Prime Video, CBS, Fox, NBC, NFL Network, Netflix and YouTube TV. For a fan to watch every NFL game, they would need to have paid $765, according to Forbes.