Sportsflation: The Justice Department Is Finally Coming for the NFL.
It finally happened.
The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether the NFL is engaging in anticompetitive tactics that drive up the cost for consumers of watching games. The Wall Street Journal broke the story today, and we want to be clear about what this moment means: Sports Fans Coalition has been calling for exactly this kind of scrutiny for more than 15 years. We're thrilled — and not the least bit surprised.
Last month, SFC and Public Knowledge filed joint comments with the FCC calling for Congress to repeal the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the antitrust exemption that the NFL relies on. We told the Commission what fans already know: the reason you're paying more to watch less isn't market evolution or technological disruption. It's because professional sports leagues have been operating like a cartel, shielded by an antitrust exemption that Congress never intended to cover what the NFL is doing today. Now the Department of Justice seems to agree there's something wrong with the way the NFL operates.
What's the Investigation About?
The focus of the investigation seems to be the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which grants the league an antitrust exemption to collectively negotiate TV rights packages. NBC Sports
The problem is that the SBA was written for a world with three broadcast networks and one way to watch sports: free, over-the-air TV. That world no longer exists. In 2025, NFL games aired on ten different services, and watching every game cost fans an estimated $1,500 or more. Some games now require paid subscriptions to access, leaving fans who grew up watching football for free scrambling across platforms and bundles they never asked for.
SFC founder and Chairman David Goodfriend told Bloomberg today: “There’s blood in the water as to whether or not the NFL is behaving legally at all.”
The SBA's antitrust exemption was meant to support free, "sponsored telecasting" — that's statutory language for “broadcast TV.” Yet sports leagues took that inch and ran a mile When the leagues collectively negotiate streaming packages and exclusive cable deals, they are operating well outside what Congress authorized. Nobody in government has held them accountable for it — until now.
This Didn't Come Out of Nowhere
The DOJ probe is the culmination of a real and growing policy momentum. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has warned the league that its proliferation of streaming could cause the exemption to collapse. Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, wrote in a March letter to the DOJ and FTC that the modern distribution environment "differs substantially from the conditions that precipitated this exemption." Senators Elizabeth Warren and Pat Ryan sent their own letter to the FCC about the rising cost of live sports on streaming.
As we wrote last week, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch told investors that the NFL raised Fox's rights fees by 100%, and that the incremental cost would flow through to distributors and, ultimately, to fans. He said that out loud, to investors. Fans are the last stop on a pipeline designed to extract as much money from them as possible.
What Should Happen Next
An investigation is a start, not a finish. Here's what we want to see:
The DOJ should take a hard look at whether the NFL's streaming arrangements — negotiated collectively, placed behind paywalls, and deliberately fragmented across platforms — fall outside the protections of the Sports Broadcasting Act. If they do, those deals should be treated the same as any other potential antitrust violation and DOJ should bring an antitrust case against the NFL.
Congress also should act. Senator Lee's letter asked the agencies to examine whether the statute continues to serve consumers or should be revised to reflect modern market conditions. We'd go further: repeal the SBA entirely. End the exemption. Require the NFL to compete in the open market like every other business in America. If the league can make a compelling case for why fans deserve to pay $1,500 a year to watch football, let them make it without the protection of a 65-year-old antitrust exemption.
There's also a simpler fix if Congress won't go that far: require leagues to make home team games available for free in local markets. The NFL already does this voluntarily on over-the-air broadcasting. The NBA, MLB, and NHL should be required to do the same.
Fans built this industry. They deserve access to the games they love without having to navigate a labyrinth of subscriptions, bundles, and exclusive platform deals engineered to separate them from their money.
The DOJ is paying attention. Congress is paying attention. The FCC is paying attention. After 15 years of advocacy, Sports Fans Coalition is watching every step of this investigation closely and we'll keep pushing until fans finally get the fair deal they've always deserved.
