The NFL is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over concerns that its media deals violate antitrust laws and harm consumers.
A government official confirmed the probe when contacted by Deadline. The official said in a brief statement, “This is about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers.”
Central to the regulatory action is the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which granted NFL teams limited antitrust exemptions to negotiate national broadcast deals.
Last February, the FCC also opened an investigation into sports rights, including the NFL’s. Regulators and lawmakers have complained that fans looking to watch games have to pay for an increasing number of streaming services. The FCC Media Bureau found that games in 2025 were carried by 10 separate services and networks, adding that estimates have pegged the cost to a consumer at more than $1,500 to watch all of the games.
Asked for comment, the NFL put out a statement pushing back on the idea of profit winning out over access. “The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry,” the statement said. “With over 87% of our games on free, broadcast television, including 100% of games in the markets of the competing teams, the NFL has for decades put our fans front and center in how we distribute our content. The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans.”
The Wall Street Journal, which had the first report of the investigation, noted that it comes at a time when the league is looking to possibly reopen its media deals and seek higher payments. A set of 11-year agreements with Fox, Paramount, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon were signed in 2022, bringing in a reported $110 billion to the league.
Paramount’s 2025 merger with Skydance triggered a change-of-control clause, which enables the NFL to reopen those deals after the 2029-30 season. The reworked deals will likely cost media partners a considerable amount given the ongoing dominance of NFL telecasts in a time when non-sports programming has fallen off a cliff.
Since reaching those broadcast-heavy deals in the last round of talks, the league has carved out slices of the schedule and put games on Netflix and YouTube. Amazon and NBCUniversal have also secured streaming-only games.
Under federal rules, local markets of the teams playing in games being streamed must still allow local broadcast stations to carry the same live telecast.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, wrote in a post on X that times have changed dramatically since Congress approved the antitrust shield. He said he had urged the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission to investigate the league.
“The modern distribution environment differs substantially from the conditions that precipitated this exemption. Instead of a small number of free broadcast networks,” Lee wrote. “The NFL now licenses games simultaneously to subscription streaming platforms, premium cable networks, and technology companies operating under different business models. To the extent collectively licensed game packages are placed behind subscription paywalls, these arrangements may no longer align with the statutory concept” in the 1961 legislation.
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC who is rarely shy on any media topic, seized on the issue of accessible sports rights in a post on X earlier this year. “For decades, Americans enjoyed turning on their TV & quickly finding the game they wanted to see,” he wrote. “Yet watching your favorite team play isn’t as easy these day. Many games are still on broadcast, but an increasing number are on a range of different online platforms.”
