NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declined to testify next week before Congress on multi-billion television and streaming deals that are making watching games on TV too expensive for the average football fan. Just the News on Thursday confirmed media reports that Goodell would not attend the House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday and that panel Chairman Jim Jordan had been notified in a letter from league general counsel Ted Ullyot, citing “ongoing litigation related to the topic of the hearing.”
In years – in fact decades – past, fans could watch games on network TV with essentially no cost beyond paying for electricity and buying a television and an antenna. In the late 1970s and early 80s, viewers were largely forced into watching TV through cable TV or satellite services that cost less than $100 a month.
Now, however, access to every game through streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix or the NFL Network is estimated to cost nearly $1,000 next season, which right now is legal through the Sports Broadcasting Act. The law was enacted in 1961 before cable or streaming existed – giving sports leagues an exemption from federal antitrust laws to let them pool and sell TV rights collectively.
The NFL currently distributes its games across several platforms, including ESPN/ABC, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and the NFL Network. These current media contracts run until the 2033 season and are reportedly worth over $110 billion.
“Back when the Sports Broadcast Act was passed, the promise was, you’ll get to watch every one of your team’s games for free. Things have dramatically changed since 1961,” stated Jordan.
Super Bowl Champion Steve Beuerlein understands the frustration that fans are feeling, “And then now, to really make it that much more expensive to sit at home and try to get coverage and watch a game on television. It almost is a little bit of overkill if you ask me. I understand the argument from the fans’ perspective,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Jordan wrote in a letter Monday to Goodell requesting his testimony that the law “has been used by the professional sports leagues to harm customers” and that “potential legislative remedies may be needed to address that harm.”
The hearing follows the Justice Department opening an investigation in April against whether the National Football League has engaged in anticompetitive tactics that hurt consumers in its deals with media companies to broadcast its games.
Last year, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation held a hearing scrutinizing the high cost local fans are experiencing and the growing problem of sports fragmentation across platforms. The NFL was the only major sports league not to attend the hearing, with executives from the NHL, MLB, and NBA all in attendance.
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