Justice Department investigating the NFL over subscription fee concerns, source says

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the NFL is forcing football fans to pay too much in subscription fees, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

In years past, football fans watched NFL games over broadcast TV, delivered free into their homes. The 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act allowed for sports leagues to get around some antitrust concerns and negotiate media rights. But now, games are spread across many different platforms and channels, and some require paid subscriptions to access.

The Justice Department investigation is into antitrust and anticompetitive tactics, the person said. It comes after Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, wrote a letter last month requesting a review of the NFL’s streaming platform exemptions and wanted to know whether the streaming package fees violated the Sports Broadcasting act.

The Justice Department didn’t comment. The White House referred questions back to the Justice Department. The NFL didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the investigation.

“To watch every NFL game during the past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Lee wrote in his letter.

The NFL said in a statement in February, according to The Associated Press, that 87% of its games are shown on free broadcast television, in addition to digital platforms.

“The NFL has the most accessible, fan-friendly distribution model across all of sports and entertainment,” according to the statement.

Following Lee’s letter, the Federal Communications Commission said it was seeking public responses about how viewing habits have changed across the modern landscape that depends increasingly on streaming services.

“The packaging of individual teams’ television rights was thought to be necessary to enhance the financial stability of the leagues by assuring equal distribution of revenues among all teams,” according to the FCC letter.

Commissioners wanted to know whether the current marketplace benefits or harms consumers, and the fragmented media landscape facilitates or restricts the ability of traditional media to broadcast work in the public interest, including in local news and reporting.

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