Overview
- FCC Chair Brendan Carr said Tuesday that shifting too many NFL games behind streaming paywalls could call the league’s Sports Broadcasting Act protection into question.
- He said the FCC is reviewing the trend with an eye on the health of local TV stations that rely on sports rights to fund costly local news.
- The Department of Justice opened an investigation last week into how the NFL structures its media-rights deals with broadcasters.
- The NFL defended its approach as the most fan- and broadcaster-friendly in sports, saying most games remain on free broadcast TV and all games air in each team’s home market.
- Fans now juggle services such as Amazon for Thursday Night Football and select games on Netflix and YouTube, while the FCC estimates current NFL media-rights contracts exceed $100 billion.