House Judiciary Committee turns attention to NFL's broadcast antitrust exemption
On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee announced on Monday that it has contacted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the other three major league sports commissioners regarding the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which created the antitrust exemption.
'As the Committee evaluates the sufficiency of existing law, it has requested a briefing on the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB's participation in the sports broadcasting market and related matters,' the Committee's statement explains.
The letter to Goodell begins with a clear indication of the possibility that the exemption will end.
'The Committee on the Judiciary is examining the sufficiency of federal laws related to the '[p]rotection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies,'' it explains. 'Under the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA), major sports leagues receive broad immunity from antitrust liability for agreements related to the broadcasting of their games on network television. However, the sports broadcasting market has changed significantly since the SBA was enacted, and recent antitrust cases have raised important questions about whether the SBA should be modified or repealed as a result.'
In May, the Senate held a hearing regarding the ongoing pivot from broadcast television to streaming. (Goodell was invited to participate, but he declined.) During the hearing, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the NFL has 'tiptoed up to' the limits of the exemption.
Elimination of the SBA would require the teams to sell their broadcast rights collectively, not individually. It would result in, for example, the Cowboys doing a multi-billion-dollar deal for their home games and the least popular teams seeing much lower revenue.
That would make it difficult, and perhaps legally impossible, for the teams to share broadcast revenue. Which would potentially splinter the operation into something like one league with the most popular teams, and another league with the least popular teams.
So the stakes for the NFL are as high as they can be. Without the ability to sell broadcast rights as a 32-team block, pro football as we know it could dramatically change.
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