The United States Justice Department is delving into the NFL’s practices, according to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether or not the league “has engaged in anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers.”
The NFL has antitrust protections allowing its teams to collectively negotiate packages of TV rights via the Sports Broadcasting Act, but media companies, regulators, and members of Congress have started to raise concerns over the difficulty fans and consumers face in trying to watch their favorite teams due to the league’s growing amount of media deals with streamers.
The Sports Broadcasting Act was passed in 1961, when games were broadcast primarily over television, but the presence of streamers in the live-sports space has complicated the issue.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, submitted a letter to the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission last month, in which he requested a review of the league’s antitrust exemption.
“To watch every NFL game during the past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Lee’s letter read.
The NFL is currently considering opting out of its current media rights deals early in an effort to renegotiate higher rates, a move that has the potential to dramaticaly change all of broadcast television.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.