The NFL faces increased federal scrutiny as more games shift to streaming

The NFL is facing increased scrutiny from the federal government over the league's moves to put more games on streaming services. The Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential anticompetitive practices. A government official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the investigation is “about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers.” The investigation comes as the Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services. As of Friday, over 8,000 comments have been logged. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr used an illustration of a fan watching a Green Bay Packers game when he announced the public comment period on Feb. 25. The NFL is not alone in creating packages for streamers. Its standing as the most popular league and the revenue it receives from media rights, however, put it front and center in a changing landscape.

Why is the NFL in the crosshairs?

Being the most popular sports league in America can come at a cost, especially when some of the most-viewed games of the season moved from network television to streamers. The “Thursday Night Football” package moved from Fox to Amazon Prime Video in 2022, followed by a wild-card playoff game in 2023 and Christmas Day games in 2024. The wild-card and Christmas games were on either CBS or Fox before moving to streamers. The league also began airing a game on Amazon on Black Friday in 2023. The NFL averages $400 million a year from Netflix and Amazon Prime for those four games. The league is also considering a game the night before Thanksgiving, which could bring in at least $50 million if bids are accepted. If the league eventually goes to an 18-game regular-season schedule, it could increase the number of international games to 16, leading to its own package. There are eight international contests this season, with the broadcasters yet to be determined.

What are the NFL media rights deals?

Games aired last season on CBS, NBC/Peacock, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV. The league averages nearly $11 billion in revenue per season from its media deals. That could increase since the sale of Paramount to Skydance Media allows the league to renegotiate its deal with CBS. The rights deals go through 2033 with most outlets and 2034 with ESPN. The league has an opt-out clause after the 2029 season, which it is likely to exercise since 83 of the top 100 broadcasts last year were NFL games, according to Nielsen. Besides “Sunday Ticket,” the league’s out-of-market Sunday afternoon slate of games, airing on YouTube TV, CBS (Paramount +), NBC (Peacock), Fox (Fox One) and ESPN have their own streaming services.

Wasn’t “Sunday Ticket″ challenged in court?

Yes. A federal jury in Los Angeles ruled in 2024 that the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service and awarded $4.7 billion in damages. A federal judge overturned the verdict in the class-action lawsuit after ruling that the testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies. The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the “Sunday Ticket″ package on DirecTV from the 2011 through 2022 seasons.

What is the Sports Broadcasting Act?

Passed by Congress in 1961, it grants professional sports leagues limited antitrust immunity, allowing them to pool their media rights and negotiate as a single entity while protecting them from antitrust lawsuits. Congress passed it after a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that the NFL’s sale of its rights to CBS violated antitrust laws. The act applies only to broadcast networks. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. There has been bipartisan sentiment in favor of updating the law. The law includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games. The NFL ended local TV blackouts after the 2014 season. They had applied to games within 75 miles of a team’s market if they did not sell out 72 hours before kickoff. Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission last month urging them to review whether the NFL’s distribution methods comply with the Sports Broadcasting Act.

What is public sentiment about the NFL’s TV packages?

The audience for the Thursday night and wild-card games this past season was greater on streaming than it was on broadcast TV three years ago. That does come with the caveat that Nielsen began using its Big Data + Panel methodology for all events last September with the start of the current television season. Last year, Nielsen began measuring out-of-home viewers in all states except Hawaii and Alaska, and included data from smart TVs, cable, and satellite set-top boxes. Nielsen previously measured only the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country. The NFL has said that over 87% of its games are available on broadcast television, including all those played in a team’s local market. The NFL and YouTube TV could offer weekly or team-only packages, as other leagues do with their streaming packages, but has not done so.

What about other sports beyond professional football?

Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted to leagues for coordinating their broadcast television rights. The NBA, NHL and MLB are also dealing with their own challenges with the demise of regional sports networks, notably the loss of local rights fees. Main Street Sports, which operates 15 regional channels under the FanDuel Sports Network brand, will go out of business at the conclusion of the NBA and NHL seasons, affecting 13 NBA and seven NHL franchises. MLB is handling production and distribution for 15 of its 30 teams this season after Main Street Sports Group failed to make scheduled rights payments to seven teams. Milwaukee Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said last month that the switch from a regional sports network to MLB is a $20 million drop in revenue. The number is higher for other teams. \\\_ AP NFL: