When it comes to the various attacks on the way the NFL does its broadcasting business, the league is a lion tamer in a cage full of untamed lions.
The latest development comes from the U.S. Senate, where Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) plans to introduce a bill making it easier for fans to watch games on TV.
The For The Fans Act, per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, would require all nationally-televised games involving a team from a given state to be available throughout the state for free, through broadcasting or streaming on a consistent channel or service.
The NFL has, since selling its first national cable package in the 1980s, made games available in the local markets via free, over-the-air network affiliates. Baldwin’s bill would expand that footprint significantly, requiring free access throughout a given state.
“It is leveling the playing field for fans,” Baldwin told Marchand. “Sports leagues and teams of all sizes will continue to be able to make money from advertising and media rights. We just want to have some basic ground rules to bring down costs for fans.”
Marchand points to one specific, and recent, example. The Saturday night playoff game between the Packers and Bears was televised on over-the-air affiliates in Green Bay and Milwaukee. The rest of Wisconsin was SOL unless they paid for Prime Video.
“For many fans in Wisconsin, the only place to watch the game was on Amazon Prime, so families were forced to pay Jeff Bezos just to watch the game,” Baldwin said. “It’s extremely frustrating to not know how or where to watch the games we love. It’s also damn expensive.”
Additionally, the bill would remove local blackouts on out-of-market services when the game is available only on another streaming service. (That doesn’t happen for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket, since the local Sunday afternoon games are available — for now — for free on CBS or Fox.)
The introduction of a bill doesn’t mean it will become law. And, in some of the larger states with multiple franchises (like California), the logic doesn’t apply with the same degree of clarity.
Regardless, it’s another tangible example of the pushback against the NFL’s pivot to multiple streaming services. And it underscores the question of whether the NFL exceeds its broadcast antitrust exemption by selling games as a league to companies that don’t make the games available on free, FCC-regulated airwaves.
