NFL defended streaming strategy in meeting with Trump administration regulators, FCC filing shows

NFL executives defended their media rights and streaming strategy in a meeting last week with Trump administration regulators, according to a Federal Communications Commission filing published Wednesday.

The meeting came after the FCC announced it had launched a probe into whether the shift of more NFL games to streaming services was harming American consumers and the broadcast television industry.

The Justice Department has opened a separate investigation into whether the league is forcing viewers to pay too much money for subscription packages.

Traditionally, NFL fans could see all games on broadcast TV networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox for free. But in recent years, the NFL has inked distribution deals with premium streaming services such as Amazon Video and YouTube TV.

The meeting last week included Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s top media executive, and two advisers to Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC, according to the filing published Wednesday.

In a 17-page slide presentation outlining the NFL’s approach to media rights, the league insisted its distribution strategy is “good for fans,” “good for local broadcasters,” “good for the game” and “good for teams in all markets.”

The NFL highlighted that 87% of its games are still carried on broadcast networks, adding that “no other sports league” was “distributing games this way.” The regular season viewership of games on CBS and NBC reached an all-time high last year, it said.

“The success of our fan- and broadcast-friendly strategy is evident as the 2025 season was the most viewed since 1989 and one of the most competitive in League history,” Brendon Plack, the NFL’s head of public policy and government affairs, said in a letter.

In the presentation, the NFL also defended an antitrust exemption allowing it to negotiate media rights for all affiliated teams. The carve-out was codified in the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy.

If all 32 teams in the league were allowed to individually negotiate rights, the league argued on the final slide, there would be “higher costs and confusion,” with clubs operating in a “fractured media landscape.” The graphic accompanying that slide shows the logos for dozens of entertainment brands and streaming apps.

The NFL and the FCC did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on last week’s meeting and the presentation.

The FCC previously said it was seeking public responses about how viewing habits have changed across the modern media landscape, which 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,” the FCC said in a letter dated Feb. 25.

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