NFL Pushes Back As FCC Scrutiny of Media Strategy Grows

The NFL is beginning to mount its defense against increasing scrutiny from Washington officials about its media strategy.

Hans Schroeder, league EVP of media distribution, met with Federal Communications Commission officials in the nation’s capital last Friday, as he sought to allay concerns that the league’s growing embrace of streamers is creating an overly fragmented and expensive experience for consumers. 

There, Schroeder made a series of points as he defended the NFL’s antitrust exemption, according to league officials, including that it shows 87% of all its games on free, broadcast television. That figure rises to 100% for the competing teams’ home markets in each contest. 

The league also argued that having each team negotiate its own media rights, as opposed to the current pooled approach, would lead to far greater fragmentation and higher costs for consumers.

The NFL’s growing migration to streaming, meanwhile, is mirrored through sports media and is happening as those services continue to grow in size and traditional cable and satellite subscribers are in marked decline. Under the current model, the NFL last season had its best regular-season viewership since 1989.  

The NFL requested the meeting with the FCC, and there is no follow-up session currently scheduled, industry sources said. The session, however, signals that the league is not merely dismissing the federal inquiries. 

“I’m not sure there’s a single content owner, league, or otherwise that’s done more to support broadcast television than what we do,” Schroeder said at the NFL’s recent annual meeting in Arizona. “We’re very committed to broadcast. We always have been, and continue to be. It’s a tremendous way to reach fans, and our focus is on reach.”

Questions Around Town

The FCC’s ongoing pressure on the NFL, and what chairman Brendan Carr sees as potential antitrust violations, is one of at least four major legislative and regulatory efforts percolating in Washington on this subject. Most recently, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D., Wisc.) introduced For The Fans Act, a bill that, if successful, would end regional blackouts on sports streaming subscriptions and require that all pro leagues 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 Baldwin’s bill aims to expand the concept to every other major league and on a state-level basis.

The U.S. Department of Justice, meanwhile, has also initiated a formal investigation into the NFL and whether the league uses anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers. 

The ongoing dialogue in Washington about the NFL is happening as the league is nearing a final decision on a five-game package of game rights. Interested parties in that inventory include prominent streamers Netflix and YouTube—something all but certain to continue the political dialogue. 

The Wall Street Journal initially reported the NFL’s meeting with the FCC.