Clay Travis testified that the NFL is violating the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, as fans pay up to nearly $1,000 per season to stream all games.
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"Every single day, sports fans are getting gouged now for the opportunity of watching their favorite teams. Fans now pay far more money every year for something that by law in 1961 you all guaranteed for them should be free," Travis began. NFL fans walk outside the Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif. , on Feb. 6, 2026.
"Most of your constituents are frustrated. They don't know how to find games, and they are having to pay far too much when they have the opportunity to actually watch those games. I don't know how many of you remember back in the day when you can have one remote control in your hand, and you can easily flip to any different game...
They just want to be able to watch their favorite team and not have to struggle to do so.
" "You guys have an important responsibility and an opportunity to apply the law fairly, freely, and help fans everywhere across the entire nation pay less and get more. " Netflix and NFL signage advertises the NFL's two Christmas Day marquee games streaming live on Netflix in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Dec. 1, 2024. "It was designed to make sure that fans get free access to games.
Anything that fans are having to pay for, outside of broadcast television, arguably is outside the scope of that 1961 exemption," Travis said. Back in March, the Senate Judiciary Committee asked for a revision of the act. Congress passed the act to let leagues pool their media rights and sell them nationally — a move that helped make a staple of free network television.
Today, those same collective rights deals are increasingly being sliced up for streaming platforms, sparking backlash from fans frustrated by paywalls and platform hopping. on Sunday Ticket, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited, and NFL+, it would have cost a minimum of $575, and others nearly $800. The sports leagues have cashed in on the pivot to streaming, with the NFL landing $1 billion a year to air"Thursday Night Football" on Amazon as an example.
The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast television. The NFL logo is painted on the field at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, prior to Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8, 2026. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite, and streaming.
The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games, which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the leagues.
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