Congress asks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to testify about league’s broadcast deals
Congress has requested NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to attend a hearing and testify about the current structure of the league’s broadcast contracts and whether they are outdated and now harming consumers.
According to a letter released Monday on X, Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to Goodell requesting that he attend a hearing on June 10. The hearing will “examine the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) of 1961 and its effect on the modern broadcast market for major sports leagues,” Jordan wrote in the letter.
The chairman wants Goodell to offer testimony via a five-minute opening statement and respond to further questions from subcommittee members. The committee aims to discuss whether new legislation is needed to further regulate how pro sports organizations negotiate the distribution of their broadcast rights.
#BREAKING: Chairman @Jim_Jordan invites NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to testify at the Committee’s hearing, “Examining the Sports Broadcasting Act,” on Wednesday, June 10th at 10am ET.
Read the invite letter here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cppxtZlkLP
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) June 1, 2026
Jordan explains in the letter that the landscape of the TV market has changed drastically since the SBA was enacted 65 years ago. Originally, it was put in place by Congress, granting several professional sports leagues a limited antitrust exemption that allowed them to negotiate their television deals collectively. In recent years, several fans and lawmakers alike have expressed concerns about the growing number of companies to which leagues are selling their broadcast rights, a trend that has only increased the cost and difficulty for consumers trying to find where to watch their teams’ games.
Among other objectives, the hearing will help inform lawmakers whether “potential legislative remedies may be needed to address that harm,” according to Jordan’s letter.
In April, the Department of Justice announced its investigation into how the NFL utilizes the SBA and the extent to which the act has become outdated. At the time it was written, cable television and, much less, streaming services like Amazon Prime Video did not exist. Therefore, there is no explicit legislation addressing where those broadcast distribution companies fall in relation to the exemption and whether the NFL’s deals with them should be subject to the same antitrust-exemption privileges.
Currently, the NFL shares its distribution rights with several companies, including CBS Sports, Fox, NBC Sports, ESPN/ABC, Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube TV. Several different subscription services are required to watch select marquee holiday and postseason games.
Free games are still aired on stations in the local broadcast markets of the participating teams. A large enough number of free games remain available, according to a statement the NFL released shortly after the DOJ began its investigation.
“The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan- and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry,” the statement said. “With over 87% of our games on free broadcast television, including 100% of games in the markets of the competing teams, the NFL has for decades put our fans front and center in how we distribute our content.”
The league continued in its statement to express that, despite the growing costs and viewing complexities, viewership numbers have still soared to record highs.
“The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans,” the NFL said.