Justice Department investigating the NFL over subscription fee concerns, source says

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the NFL is forcing football fans to pay too much in subscription fees, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

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In years past, football fans watched NFL games over broadcast TV, delivered free into their homes. The 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act allowed for sports leagues to get around some antitrust concerns and negotiate media rights. But now, games are spread across many different platforms and channels, and some require paid subscriptions to access.

The Justice Department investigation is into antitrust and anticompetitive tactics, the person said. It comes after Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, wrote a letter last month requesting a review of the NFL’s streaming platform exemptions and wanted to know whether the streaming package fees violated the Sports Broadcasting act.

“The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry. 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,” an NFL spokesperson said.

The Justice Department didn’t comment. The White House referred questions back to the Justice Department. The Wall Street Journal first reported the investigation.

“To watch every NFL game during the past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Lee wrote in his letter.

The package of NFL games is shared by networks CBS, NBC, ESPN and Fox, with Amazon Video streaming the Thursday night games. YouTube has the “Sunday NFL Ticket” to watch every game on Sundays, which costs $240 for the season.

Following Lee’s letter, the Federal Communications Commission said it was seeking public responses about how viewing habits have changed across the modern landscape that 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,” according to the FCC letter.

Commissioners wanted to know whether the current marketplace benefits or harms consumers, and the fragmented media landscape facilitates or restricts the ability of traditional media to broadcast work in the public interest, including in local news and reporting.