NFL commissioner Goodell asked to testify before Congress on antitrust exemption

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday requested NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testify at a hearing that will examine whether the Sports Broadcast Act of 1961 has been used by sports leagues “to harm consumers,” according to a letter obtained by Fox News and OutKick.

The letter, from Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R, Ohio), requests Goodell testify on June 10.

This is not a subpoena , so Goodell can opt to testify or not. He is instructed to let the Committee know his intentions by June 3.

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An NFL spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation as to the commissioner’s intentions.

“We respectfully request your testimony at a hearing titled “Examining the Sports Broadcasting Act” on June 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building,” the letter to Goodell reads.

“This hearing will examine the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) of 1961 and its effect on the modern broadcast market for major sports leagues. In particular, this hearing will examine the ways in which the distribution of professional sports has evolved since the SBA was first enacted 65 years ago.

“It will also examine the extent to which the antitrust exemption created by the SBA has been used by the professional sports leagues to harm consumers and whether potential legislative remedies may be needed to address that harm.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pictured speaking in an image provided by Imagn Images.

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That sounds ominous and should be for the NFL because its business model hinges on the antitrust exemption within the Sports Broadcasting Act.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 grants professional sports leagues, including the NFL, a limited antitrust exemption that allows teams to pool their television rights and sell them collectively as a league package rather than having each team negotiate its own broadcasting contracts.

So, the NFL is able to negotiate television contracts as one entity on behalf of its 32 teams. That has been a boon to the league.

The NFL’s current media-rights agreements, which run through the 2033 season, are reportedly worth more than $110 billion overall. The annual values for the four major broadcast partners are:

• ABC/ESPN (Disney): approximately $2.7 billion per year.
• FOX: approximately $2.2 billion per year.
• CBS (Paramount): approximately $2.1 billion per year.

NBC (Comcast): approximately $2 billion per year.

Netflix and NFL signage advertises the NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games streaming live on Netflix in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Dec. 1, 2024. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)

If Congress, the Department of Justice or the FCC — all of which are conducting probes into how professional sports leagues may be violating the Sports Broadcasting Act by funneling games to pay streaming sites such as Amazon, Netflix, Peacock and others — decide a change is necessary, it could rock the NFL to its foundation.

So, as the letter from Jordan to Goodell states, the commissioner should be “prepared to summarize your testimony with a five-minute opening statement and answer questions posed by Subcommittee members,” some of whom might not be treating the commissioner as a friendly witness.

The NFL has previously made a presentation before the FCC to convince that body that the league’s business model is good for consumers as 87 percent of its games are on so-called “free” television.

But consumers have complained that the advent of Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which require consumers pay a subscription fee, has affected their wallet as the NFL has siphoned multiple games to the services in recent years.

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This coming season, Amazon Prime holds exclusive national rights to the NFL’s annual Black Friday game in addition to 15 Thursday Night Football games, while Netflix will carry two Christmas Day games and Peacock streams an exclusive regular-season matchup.

The cost for consumers of adding all those services to have access to the games is at the root of their complaints.

FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO