Donald Trump claims NFL fans are paying ‘$1,000 a game’ to watch football

Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Department of Justice opened an investigation into the NFL last month over whether its media distribution practices violate antitrust law, essentially asking whether the league has been systematically pushing games behind streaming paywalls at the expense of fans who can’t afford them. It’s a legitimate and important question for America’s most-watched sport.

That’s why Sharyl Attkisson posed the question to President Donald Trump on Full Measure — and Trump — never one to let a coherent answer get in the way of a good tangent, responded by ranting about the kickoff rule (again!) and claiming fans are paying $1,000 a game to watch football on streaming.

“They have that stupid kickoff thing that you can’t watch,” Trump said. “It’s unwatchable. I hate the games where they have the new phony kickoff. I don’t think it’s any safer. I hope college football doesn’t do that.”

He eventually found his way back to the actual question.

“There’s something very sad when they take football away from many, many people, he continued. “Very sad. I don’t like it… They’re making a lot of money. They could make a little bit less. They could let the people see. You have people that live for Sunday. They live. They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden they’re gonna have to pay $1,000 a game. It’s crazy, so I’m not happy about it.”

Senator Mike Lee has cited research showing fans spent close to $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions to watch every game last season, meaning the full 272-game regular season slate plus playoffs, not a single game. Trump appears to have heard “a thousand dollars” and stopped listening.

It’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost, ten dollars?

The actual DOJ investigation is a real and significant story, even if Trump’s grasp of it is loose. The investigation centers on whether the NFL’s antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 applies to games sold exclusively to streaming services. FCC chairman Brendan Carr has been making this argument for months, arguing the NFL may have already tipped the scales by putting too many games behind a paywall. The NFL requested a meeting with the FCC to defend its practices and has been loudly pointing out that 87% of games last season aired on free over-the-air broadcast television. The 2026 schedule will reportedly include a slight increase in broadcast exposure as the league tries to get ahead of the scrutiny.

As Matt Yoder wrote this week, the Trump administration’s interest in this investigation has less to do with protecting football fans and more to do with protecting Rupert Murdoch’s bottom line. Trump’s interest here seems to stem from the belief that somewhere out there, a family is taking out a second mortgage to watch Jaguars-Titans on Peacock.

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