Efforts to Fight Sports Streaming Fragmentation Ramp Up in D.C.

Washington, D.C.’s growing fight against sports media is getting nearly as fragmented as the channel confusion that federal officials are combatting. 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D., Wisc.) introduced on Wednesday a bill called For The Fans Act that seeks to make it easier for consumers to access live sports. The proposal’s two key provisions include ending regional blackouts in all league-owned, subscription-based streaming services, including NBA League Pass and MLB.TV, and requiring all pro leagues to provide free, live access to local games. 

The NFL already does the latter measure in the home markets of the competing teams in each game, but the bill aims to expand the concept to every other major league and on a state-level basis. 

“This has become an American issue. There is no consistency and it’s flat-out confusing for fans,” Baldwin said of the current level of sports media fragmentation. “It’s not only confusing, it’s also damn expensive.” 

Baldwin’s push, however, is at least the fourth major effort in recent weeks targeting the rise of streaming in live sports and the heightened fragmentation existing in sports media. Her bill joins other moves in the last month such as:

• A U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the NFL, and whether it uses anticompetitive tactics in its media distribution that harm consumers. 
• Rising pressure from Federal Communication Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who has suggested the NFL’s current media strategy may render it in violation of antitrust law. 
• A growing call from other members of Congress, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D., N.Y.), for the federal government to crack down on sports media networks and leagues.

That list also doesn’t include a separate Home Team Act from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D., Texas) that’s focused not on sports media, but rather on team relocations.

Baldwin’s ire has risen in no small part from the Packers in her jurisdiction. Despite the NFL’s existing policy for home-market access to games through over-the-air television, five of seven media markets in Wisconsin outside of Green Bay and Milwaukee were excluded from that for a January playoff game against the Bears shown exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.  

“No Wisconsinite would miss a Packers versus Bears game, not to mention a playoff game,” Baldwin said. “But many did. … The only way to watch was paying Jeff Bezos and forking [over] for a subscription to Amazon Prime Video.”

How Will It All Work Together?

Baldwin said her bill will essentially run parallel to the other federal investigations and legislative efforts, and that it’s not designed to amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which, among other elements, provides antitrust protections to the NFL. 

Carr in particular has suggested reviewing certain elements of that statute, but the senator said she is taking a more strictly fan-focused approach.

“I have drafted the For The Fans Act in a way that will not interfere with the status quo with regard to the Sports Broadcasting Act,” Baldwin said in response to a Front Office Sports question. “Those [other] investigations and scrutiny will continue, but this bill is not intended to upset that.”

Formal responses from the leagues to Baldwin and other federal officials are expected in the coming weeks. Already, though, the NFL has pointed to its media strategy as “the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry.”