Sources: DOJ opens probe of NFL over TV deals

The Justice Department has begun an investigation into whether the NFL has violated anticompetitive practices with their television contracts that require consumers to pay subscription costs to watch some games, sources confirmed to ABC News.

"This is about affordability and creating an even playing field for providers," a government official told ABC News.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, writing that the "nature and scope" of the Justice Department's investigation were unknown.

The NFL has an antitrust exemption for the negotiating of its television contracts through the Sports Broadcast Act of 1961.

The NFL currently has television contracts with ESPN/ABC, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Prime Video and Netflix to air its games. Subscriptions are required to watch "Monday Night Football" games on ESPN that aren't simulcast on ABC, "Thursday Night Football" and the Black Friday game on Prime Video and Christmas games on Netflix. Some international games also air on NFL Network, which is owned by ESPN. Select postseason games also require subscriptions. The NFL has also awarded select games to ESPN+ and Peacock in the past.

All games, however, air free on the local stations in the broadcast markets of the teams playing.

"The NFL's media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry," the NFL said in a statement Thursday. "With over 87% of our games on free, broadcast television, including 100% of games in the markets of the competing teams, the NFL has for decades put our fans front and center in how we distribute our content. The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans."

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who is the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, applauded the investigation on social media Thursday.

"The modern distribution environment differs substantially from the conditions that precipitated this exemption," Lee wrote in a post to X. "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. 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. That's why, as chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, I urged the DOJ to examine the Sports Broadcasting Act and its applicability to current media landscape. I'm glad they're tackling this."

The Justice Department declined comment when contacted by ABC News.