The DOJ is coming for the NFL.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether the NFL has “engaged in anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers.”
The “nature and scope,” per the report, isn’t currently known. Both the DOJ and the NFL declined comment.
The article focuses on the Sports Broadcast Act of 1961, which gives the league an antitrust exemption when it comes to the negotiation of TV rights.
The move comes at a time when both the FCC and Congress have made plenty of noise about the viability of the antitrust exemption as the NFL moves more games from free, over-the-air networks to streaming platforms.
And it’s possibly no coincidence that the Wall Street Journal got the scoop. It’s ultimately owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial that openly questions whether the NFL still “deserves” the antitrust exemption.
Without it, the NFL would have a major problem. The TV rights would be sold by each team. Some teams would make a lot. Others wouldn’t. The salary-cap system could implode. The league could potentially fracture.
The entire effort could be nothing more than a political power play by Fox to get the NFL to back off in its effort to try to get more money from its various broadcast partners in the remaining years of contracts that can be terminated after the 2029 season. (The ESPN deal can be scrapped by the league after 2030.)
The process has already begun. Many believe CBS will soon agree to pay dramatically more than the $2.1 billion per year it previously agreed to pay. Then, as the thinking goes, the NFL will move on to Fox.
Last month, John Ourand of Puck raised the question of whether the networks will refuse to pay more for the remaining four years of the current contracts. If that’s the play, what happens next? If the networks are willing to draw a line in the sand at the risk of eventually losing their NFL deals, where will the NFL go?
The antitrust exemption makes that a thornier question for the league. And it makes it critical for all parties to find a way for the NFL to declare victory and retreat.
