The Justice Department has opened a bombshell investigation into the NFL.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday morning they are looking into whether the NFL has engaged in ‘anticompetitive tactics that are harming consumers’.
It comes after questions have been asked of the NFL by media companies, members of Congress and regulators in recent months.
There are concerns around how difficult and expensive it has become for consumers to watch NFL games as a result of the broadcasting deals the league has struck in recent years.
Access to NFL games has become spread across multiple networks and streaming companies, which requires fans to take out a number of costly subscriptions.
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 allowed anti-trust exemptions that gave leagues like the NFL the chance to bunch its broadcasting rights together so they could agree mega-money TV rights contracts with national networks.
The Justice Department has opened a bombshell investigation into the NFL on Thursday
The Justice Department is looking into whether the NFL is engaging in ‘anticompetitive tactics’
As well as traditional TV networks, Netflix and Amazon Prime now hold rights to NFL games
But in recent years the NFL’s rights holders have evolved to include subscription-based streaming services.
The emergence of those has led to concerns from NFL fans about how much it costs to be able to watch their favorite teams across a dizzying number of platforms.
In the upcoming 2026 season, games will be broadcast on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Amazon Prime, Fox One, Paramount+, Peacock, Netflix and YouTube.
‘To watch every NFL game during the past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,’ Republican Sen. Mike Lee wrote in a letter last month to the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.
Daily Mail has reached out to the NFL for comment.
The NFL claims it is the most fan-friendly league with 87 per cent of games available on local TV.
Also, when NFL games are broadcast on a streaming service, the same game is also shown in the local TV markets of the two teams playing.
ESPN struck a deal with the NFL to acquire NFL Network, RedZone rights and three more games
It comes just months after ESPN struck a deal with the NFL to acquire NFL Network, rights for RedZone and three more games every season.
As part of the package, the NFL has taken a 10 per-cent ownership in the network that is owned by Disney. That stake is worth billions.
However, ESPN were the big winners. They now own and operate NFL Network, will be the official home of the league’s fantasy football product and hold the rights to RedZone.
The NFL is reportedly attempting to reopen its deals with the major TV networks to secure higher rates. The NFL’s existing deals with CBS, NBC and Fox has an opt-out window the league can activate after the 2029-30 season.