House Judiciary Committee Requests Testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

The House Judiciary Committee has extended an invitation to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to testify at an upcoming hearing. The hearing, scheduled for June 10, will focus on whether the Sports Broadcast Act of 1961 has been used by sports leagues to negatively impact consumers. This request comes in the form of a letter from Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio. Goodell has been asked to confirm his participation by June 3. While this request is not a subpoena, the outcome of his decision could hold significant implications.

An NFL spokesperson has not yet commented on the commissioner’s plans regarding the hearing. The letter outlining the request specifies that the hearing will examine the Act and its impact on the current broadcast market. Changes in professional sports distribution since the Act’s enactment, as well as any potential harm to consumers from the antitrust exemption, will be primary points of discussion. Possible legislative solutions to such issues may also be explored.

The letter emphasizes the significance of this investigation for the NFL, given that its business structure relies heavily on the Act’s antitrust exemption. This exemption enables leagues to collectively sell television rights as a single package, benefiting the NFL financially. The league’s media rights agreements, valid until the 2033 season, have been reported to exceed $110 billion in total value. The annual contractual values include:

• ABC/ESPN (Disney): Approximately $2.7 billion annually
• FOX: Approximately $2.2 billion annually
• CBS (Paramount): Approximately $2.1 billion annually
• NBC (Comcast): Approximately $2 billion annually

Recent investigations by Congress, the Department of Justice, and the FCC into whether professional sports leagues violate the Act by moving games to paid streaming platforms such as Amazon and Netflix could pose challenges to the NFL’s operational foundation. In the correspondence, Jordan instructs Goodell to prepare a five-minute opening statement and be ready for questions from Subcommittee members, who may not regard him as a favorable witness.

Previously, the NFL has argued before the FCC that its existing business model benefits consumers, with 87 percent of games available on what is considered ‘free’ television. Yet, consumer grievances have risen over subscriptions to services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which host several NFL games. For instance, the forthcoming season sees Amazon Prime obtaining exclusive rights to the NFL’s annual Black Friday game and 15 Thursday Night Football games. Netflix is set to stream two Christmas Day games, and Peacock will exclusively air a regular-season matchup. These arrangements, requiring additional subscriptions, have been a point of contention for consumers.