NFL faces scrutiny at antitrust hearing over rising costs for watching games
The House Judiciary Committee questioned the NFL on whether its bundling of television rights violates a 1961 antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act. The committee’s antitrust subcommittee examined how the league pools rights for all 32 teams into packages sold across multiple cable and streaming platforms, making it difficult and expensive for fans to watch games.
Testimony included a complaint from OutKick President clay Travis that fans are being “price gouged,” and the panel highlighted an interim staff report describing the complex mix of broadcasters and streaming services required to follow games-along with the need for subscriptions to services like Prime Video, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited, and NFL+ (and perhaps sunday Ticket). The report also emphasized fans often cannot know in advance which specific games will be available via local broadcast in their area.
The DOJ has been investigating the same issue as April. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did not attend because of ongoing litigation related to Sunday Ticket.The committee said it will continue its examination and consider “all options.”
The House Judiciary Committee scrutinized the NFL and its compliance with a 65-year-old broadcasting antitrust law during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
The panel’s antitrust subcommittee considered whether the professional football league overstretched its antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 by pooling the television rights for all 32 teams into a package that is then sold to various cable networks and streaming services. The committee’s antitrust investigation into the NFL commenced in August 2025 in response to constituents’ concerns about the high costs, according to a source familiar with the situation.
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If fans wanted to watch all of the games in the 2025 season outside the traditional broadcasters such as CBS and Fox, they would have needed to pay subscriptions to the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” offering on YouTube, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited, and NFL+. All of those services would have cost between $575 and $780 for the season, according to Fox News.
The bipartisan House panel questioned four witnesses, including OutKick President Clay Travis, who accused the NFL of price gouging its massive audience in his opening statement.
“Every single day, sports fans are getting gouged now for the opportunity of watching their favorite teams,” Travis said in part. “Fans now pay far more money every year for something that, by law in 1961, you all guaranteed for them should be free.”
In an interim staff report released on Monday, the House Judiciary Committee highlighted the “complicated and expensive web of television agreements and rules” that consumers must navigate to watch broadcast NFL games.
To illustrate this point, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) read a passage from the report about a hypothetical Green Bay Packers fan who lives in Dallas.
“For the 2026 season, the Packers are scheduled to play eight games on FOX, two games on Amazon Prime Video, two games on Netflix, two games on NBC, one game on ESPN, one game on CBS, and one unscheduled game that is left to be determined by the NFL,” the report states. “The fan will need access to Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, NBC, and ESPN to see the seven games scheduled for those services. For the nine games scheduled for FOX and CBS, the fan will likely need FOX and CBS because some of the games will be on broadcast television in Dallas. The fan will also likely need Sunday Ticket just to watch some subset of the nine FOX and CBS games because some of the FOX and CBS games will likely not be on broadcast television in Dallas, Texas.”
“The fan will not know which games will and will not be on broadcast until the NFL and relevant networks release the broadcasts maps the week of the games,” the report continues.
A direct consequence of this confusing structure is the soaring prices that fans must pay to watch the football games. There is no option for fans to pay to watch individual teams. Instead, they must pay the full package for a given streaming service.
Separately, the Justice Department has been investigating the NFL over the same matter since April.
DOJ OPENS ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION INTO NFL OVER SUBSCRIPTION FEE CONCERNS
Notably, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was absent from Wednesday’s hearing after he declined to testify about his organization’s broadcasting deals due to ongoing litigation regarding Sunday Ticket. It remains to be seen what the House Judiciary Committee does next in the investigation following the hearing.
“The committee will continue its investigation and evaluate all options,” a source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner. “Everything is on the table.”
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