Broadcasters urge Congress to restrict sports antitrust exemptions to free TV

A legislative narrowing of the Sports Broadcasting Act would strip major leagues of their primary leverage when negotiating with streamers for exclusive, out-of-market rights. If the antitrust exemption is reaffirmed strictly for broadcast, leagues could face individual team-based negotiations or litigation for multi-billion dollar streaming deals. This move signals a coordinated push by regulators and local broadcasters to arrest the fragmentation of sports media, which has seen the cost of full season access climb above $750 for some consumers. Watch for the House Judiciary Committee's final report to determine if formal legislation will be introduced to modernize the 65-year-old act.

The National Football League is currently facing increased pressure from federal investigators and lawmakers over the shift of premium content to digital platforms. Per the Wall Street Journal in April 2026, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the league's media rights agreements, focusing on whether fragmenting games across 10 different services harms consumer affordability. This probe follows concerns that accessing a full slate of games now requires a combination of cable and several streaming subscriptions, with costs estimated at roughly $1,500 annually according to February 2026 FCC statements.

Simultaneously, the broadcast landscape is shifting under the weight of massive consolidation. Following the FCC's July 2025 approval of the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger, the newly formed entity is moving to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for approximately $111 billion. Per Reuters in May 2026, this deal has attracted political scrutiny due to a $24 billion financing package involving sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and several Democratic senators have called for a rigorous national security review via the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), given the foreign ownership stake is projected to reach 49.5%.

Broadcasters are framing their survival around localism and universal access, citing that 100% of NFL games remain free in local markets. However, the NAB continues to lobby for the removal of the 39% national ownership cap, arguing that local stations need greater scale to compete for rights against unregulated tech pillars like Amazon. According to a March 2026 NAB survey, sports enthusiasts overwhelmingly prefer broadcast over streaming, yet the migration of marquee content to paywalls continues as leagues seek higher rights fees, which the NFL reportedly intends to renegotiate as early as the 2026 season.