Sen. Baldwin introduces bill to stop sports blackouts

Yahoo Sports20h ago3 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill to eliminate local sports blackouts, making it easier and cheaper for fans to watch their favorite teams. The For the Fans Act aims to prohibit blackouts on league-owned streaming services and ensure local access to all games for state residents.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill to prevent local markets from being blacked out from viewing local sports teams on TV. (Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)

](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/S1dz0bXECM0.BUlzo9WgIQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzNztjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/wisconsin\_examiner\_articles\_718/774e50566f6de780405c7feea0ebf180) U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill to prevent local markets from being blacked out from viewing local sports teams on TV. (Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner) U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a new bill Tuesday aimed at making it simpler and cheaper for people to watch professional sports. Currently, for a fan in Wisconsin to watch every Packers, Brewers and Bucks game in a year it costs more than $1,500 annually to purchase the necessary streaming services and subscriptions — a cost that Baldwin said Wednesday benefits league and streaming service executives, as well as the billionaire owners of sports teams, at the expense of fans. “This isn’t just a Packers or a Wisconsin issue. This has become an American issue,” Baldwin said during a Wednesday news conference. “What used to be grabbing the remote and hitting a button or two has turned into a maze of streaming subscriptions, unexpected blackouts or a sky high payment. To top it all off, there is no consistency, and it is flat out confusing for fans.” She said at the news conference she was introducing the bill without any co-sponsors specifically to start conversations in Congress about the issues in the bill. Baldwin’s For the Fans Act includes two major provisions meant to make it cheaper for people to watch their favorite teams. The first would prohibit league-owned streaming services, such as MLB.Tv or NBA League Pass, from blacking out games that are played locally or on a third-party streamer. The second would require the leagues to provide a way for local fans to watch all games for teams based in the state in which they live. The proposal comes after the Green Bay Packers v. Chicago Bears playoff game in January was only available on local TV in Wisconsin in the Milwaukee and Green Bay markets — meaning that in five of the state’s markets, fans were forced to subscribe to Amazon to watch the game. The bill would apply to professional sports teams playing baseball, basketball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer. Minor league teams and leagues with fewer than eight teams are exempted. Baldwin has also previously introduced the Go Pack Go Act, which aims to make sure the Wisconsin households assigned to Michigan or Minnesota television markets are able to watch Packers games. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Q&A

What is the For the Fans Act introduced by Sen. Tammy Baldwin?

The For the Fans Act aims to prevent local sports blackouts and ensure that fans can watch all games for teams based in their state without excessive costs.

How much does it currently cost to watch local sports teams in Wisconsin?

Currently, it costs over $1,500 annually for fans in Wisconsin to access the necessary streaming services and subscriptions to watch local teams like the Packers, Brewers, and Bucks.

What are the main provisions of the bill introduced by Sen. Baldwin?

The bill prohibits league-owned streaming services from blacking out locally played games and requires leagues to provide local fans access to all games for teams in their state.