04/09/26 03:30:00
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04/09 15:28 CDT Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential
anticompetitive practices, AP source says
Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential anticompetitive
practices, AP source says
By JOE REEDY and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
The Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential anticompetitive
practices, according to a government official.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by
name and spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday, said the investigation is
"about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for
providers."
The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The NFL has not received a notification that the league is being investigated,
according to two other people with knowledge of the situation. Those people
spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on
possible legal matters.
The investigation comes amid increasing federal scrutiny of the amount of money
fans are paying to watch sports on television. The Federal Communications
Commission, for example, is seeking public comments on the ongoing shift of
live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services.
The NFL said in a statement Thursday that over 87% of its games are available
on broadcast television, including all that are played in a team's local market.
"The NFL's media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in
the entire sports and entertainment industry. 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," the league said in its statement.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on antitrust,
competition policy, and consumer rights, wrote a letter to the Justice
Department and the Federal Trade Commission on March 3 urging them to review
whether the NFL's distribution methods are in line with the Sports Broadcasting
Act, which grants limited antitrust immunity to allow teams to collectively
license game broadcasts to national networks.
"The modern distribution environment differs substantially from the conditions
that precipitated this exemption. 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," the Republican senator 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 said in his letter that football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and
streaming subscriptions. Forbes estimated the cost of watching every NFL game
via streaming last season at $765.
The NFL aired games last season on CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network,
Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.
The league averages nearly $11 billion per season in revenue 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.
The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast
television. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other
media, including cable, satellite and streaming.
The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games,
which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the league. The NFL ended
local TV blackouts, which applied to games within 75 miles of a team's market
if they did not sell out 72 hours before kickoff, after the 2014 season.
Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA,
NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted for
coordinating their broadcast television rights.
All four of the major North American professional sports leagues have deals
with streaming platforms.
In 2024, a jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled 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 because the
testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies and
should have been excluded.
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 of
out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons.
Because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could have
been liable for $14,121,779,833.92.
___
Reedy reported from Cleveland and Tucker from Washington.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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