DOJ probes NFL rights

The United States Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into the National Football League over one basic question: are fans being made to buy too many subscriptions just to watch games that used to sit in fewer places? Sources told CNBC, NBC News, CBS News and ABC News that investigators are examining whether the league’s media deals push up consumer costs. (cnbc.com) (nbcnews.com) (cbsnews.com) (abcnews.go.com) The league’s answer is that most games still air on free over-the-air local television, and the National Football League told CNBC its setup is “fan and broadcaster-friendly.” The investigation is not a charge or a lawsuit yet; it is the government deciding whether the way the rights are packaged crosses an antitrust line. (cnbc.com) To see why regulators are looking, start with where the games went. The National Football League’s 2021 rights deals run through the 2033 season and split games among CBS, Fox, NBC, American Broadcasting Company and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, plus Amazon for Thursday Night Football. (nfl.com) (support.nfl.com) Then the premium layers start. Sunday Ticket, which shows out-of-market Sunday afternoon games, moved from DirecTV to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels in a multiyear deal announced in December 2022. (nfl.com) Peacock has also taken exclusive National Football League games, including a playoff game, and Amazon added an exclusive wild-card game after becoming the home of Thursday Night Football. That means one fan can need broadcast television, a cable bundle or live television streaming bundle, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, and possibly Sunday Ticket depending on which team they follow and where they live. (nfl.com 1) (nfl.com 2) That pileup is what antitrust lawyers mean by packaging and distribution. The issue is not whether streaming exists; the issue is whether a league with unique control over live football can slice rights in a way that leaves viewers paying several companies for access to one sport. (bloomberg.com) (cnbc.com) There is also an older law sitting in the background. Senator Mike Lee said on March 3 that football fans were spending almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions, and he urged the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to review whether the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 still fits the current media market. (espn.com) That 1961 law gave professional sports leagues room to pool television rights and sell them together, which helped build the modern National Football League television model. The new question is whether a law written for broadcast television still protects conduct built around apps, add-on packages and platform exclusives. (usatoday.com) (espn.com) The timing inside the Justice Department is its own story. Bloomberg reported on April 8 that the department’s top antitrust litigator and three senior trial lawyers tied to cases involving Live Nation, Apple and Google are leaving after internal anger over a March 9 Live Nation settlement. (news.bloomberglaw.com) (insurancejournal.com) The division also lost its Senate-confirmed antitrust chief in February, when Gail Slater stepped down effective immediately. A new investigation into the National Football League now lands in a unit that is still handling major monopoly cases while losing some of the lawyers who try them. (nbcnews.com) (politico.com) So the short version is this: the government is asking whether America’s most valuable sports product has turned game access into a toll road with too many booths. The answer will shape more than football, because every streaming company selling “exclusive” live sports is watching what the Justice Department does next. (cnbc.com) (deadline.com)