NFL commissioner Goodell asked to testify before Congress on antitrust exemption
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The House Judiciary Committee on Monday requested NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to testify at a hearing that will examine whether the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 is being 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 that Goodell testify on June 10.
This is not a subpoena, so Goodell can choose whether or not to testify. He was instructed to notify the Committee of his intention by 3 June.
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An NFL spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation of the commissioner’s intentions.
In the letter sent to Goodell, “We respectfully request your testimony at the hearing titled “Review of the Sports Broadcasting Law” to be held on June 10, 2026 at 10:00 in Rayburn House Office Building, room 2141.”
“This hearing will examine the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) of 1961 and its impact on the modern broadcast market for major sports leagues. Specifically, this hearing will examine how 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 professional sports leagues to harm consumers and whether potential legal remedies are necessary to remedy that harm.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is seen speaking in footage provided by Imagn Images.
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This sounds ominous, and it should for the NFL, because its business model relies on antitrust immunity under the Sports Broadcasting Act.
Sports Broadcasting Act 1961 Grants a limited antitrust exemption to professional sports leagues, including the NFL This allows teams to pool television rights and sell them collectively as a league package, rather than each team negotiating their own broadcast contracts.
The NFL is thus able to negotiate television contracts on behalf of its 32 teams as a single entity. This was a big advantage for the league.
The total value of the NFL’s current media rights deals, which will run through the 2033 season, is reportedly more than $110 billion. The annual values of the four major broadcast partners are as follows:
- ABC/ESPN (Disney): Approximately $2.7 billion per year.
- FOX: about $2.2 billion a year.
- CBS (Paramount): Approximately $2.1 billion per year.
NBC (Comcast): About $2 billion a year.
Netflix and NFL signs announce that the NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games will air live on Netflix on December 1, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
If Congress, the Department of Justice or the FCC, which is investigating how professional sports leagues are violating the Sports Broadcasting Act by streaming games to paid streaming sites like Amazon, Netflix, Peacock and others, decide a change is necessary, it could shake the NFL to its core.
Therefore, as stated in the letter from Jordan to Goodell, the commissioner “should be prepared to summarize your testimony in a five-minute opening statement and answer questions posed by members of the Subcommittee”; Some of these may not act as a friendly witness to the commissioner.
The NFL had previously made a presentation before the FCC to convince the agency that the league’s business model was good for consumers, with 87 percent of its games on so-called “free” television.
But consumers have complained that the advent of Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which require paying subscription fees, has hit their wallets as the NFL has moved multiple games to the services in recent years.
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Next season, Amazon Prime will have exclusive national rights to 15 Thursday Night Football games as well as the NFL’s annual Black Friday game, while Netflix will stream two Christmas Day games and Peacock will air an exclusive regular-season game.
The core of consumer complaints is the cost of adding all these services to access games.
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