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Judiciary Committee Requests Briefings on Sports Broadcasting Markets

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has invited the heads of major sports leagues to brief them on the current state of the sports broadcasting market, amid growing concerns over the law governing sports broadcasting agreements. The Committee's inquiry focuses on the 60-year-old Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA), which exempted professional sports leagues from antitrust liability for broadcasting agreements. As the sports broadcasting market has evolved, the Committee aims to assess the law's effectiveness in protecting smaller teams and the leagues as a whole.

Key Takeaways:

  • The House Judiciary Committee has requested briefings from the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB on their participation in the sports broadcasting market.
  • The SBA, passed in 1961, exempted professional sports leagues from antitrust liability for broadcasting agreements, including "blackout" exemptions that permit leagues to prevent games from being broadcast in home territories.
  • The Committee is evaluating the sufficiency of existing law in light of massive changes in the video-competition marketplace.
  • Smaller teams often struggled to remain profitable in the pre-SBA era, when teams individually negotiated and sold broadcasting rights.
  • The current distribution agreements entered into by sports leagues are subject to antitrust challenges, creating legal uncertainty and distorting the market.

Statistics:

  • The Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) was passed in 1961.
  • The SBA exempts leagues from antitrust liability for agreements related to the "sponsored telecasting" of games.
  • The majority of sports viewership now occurs outside of traditional network broadcasting.
  • The SBA "blackout" exemption permits leagues to prevent games from being broadcast in home territories on a day when the home team is playing.

Sources:

  • "Letters to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wisconsin)".
  • No publication date provided.

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