NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Asked to Testify Before Congress as Lawmakers Scrutinize League’s Streaming Strategy and Broadcast Deals

By Emmanuel Bobby

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been invited to testify before Congress as lawmakers intensify scrutiny of the league’s increasingly complex media partnerships, television contracts, and growing reliance on subscription-based streaming platforms to broadcast games.

The request comes amid mounting concerns in Washington over whether the NFL’s lucrative broadcast arrangements comply with decades-old federal law governing sports broadcasting and whether the league’s shift toward streaming services is unfairly limiting access for fans while potentially harming competition.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, formally invited Goodell to appear at a congressional hearing scheduled for June 10 to discuss the league’s media practices and the legal protections that have enabled professional sports leagues to negotiate television rights collectively.

In a letter sent Monday, Jordan said lawmakers intend to examine whether the NFL has used special legal protections in ways that negatively affect consumers and restrict competition in the evolving media landscape.

At the center of congressional concerns is the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, a law that grants professional sports leagues limited protection from antitrust lawsuits.

The legislation allows leagues such as the NFL to collectively bundle and negotiate broadcasting rights as a single organization rather than forcing individual teams to negotiate separate deals. The arrangement has historically allowed leagues to secure massive television agreements while ensuring broad national distribution of games.

However, the law was written during an era dominated by traditional broadcast television, decades before streaming platforms, subscription apps, and digital media transformed how sports content is consumed.

Importantly, courts have previously ruled that the legal protections outlined in the 1961 law apply specifically to broadcast television networks and do not automatically extend to cable television, satellite providers, or streaming services.

That distinction has become increasingly significant as the NFL expands partnerships with subscription-based streaming companies and moves more games behind digital paywalls.

According to Jordan’s letter, the June hearing will explore “the extent to which the antitrust exemption created by the Sports Broadcasting Act has been used by professional sports leagues to harm consumers” and whether Congress should consider legislative changes to modernize or restrict those protections.

The invitation places Goodell at the center of a growing bipartisan debate over affordability, accessibility, and competition in sports broadcasting.

Over the last several years, the NFL has steadily shifted portions of its schedule away from traditional free television and onto paid digital services — a strategy that has generated enormous new revenue for the league but also frustrated some fans who now need multiple subscriptions to watch games.

The NFL currently maintains major media partnerships across an increasingly fragmented broadcast ecosystem, including agreements with CBS and Paramount+, NBC and Peacock, ABC and ESPN, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube TV.

The league’s embrace of streaming accelerated in 2022 when exclusive Thursday Night Football broadcasts moved to Amazon Prime Video, marking one of the most dramatic shifts in live sports programming away from traditional television.

Since then, the NFL has continued expanding streaming-exclusive events, including playoff games, holiday matchups, and special marquee broadcasts.

Among the most controversial moves was the decision to place certain postseason and Christmas Day games exclusively on subscription platforms, requiring viewers to pay for access rather than watching over free broadcast channels.

The league has defended those decisions by arguing that the overwhelming majority of NFL games remain widely available.

League officials say approximately 87% of NFL games are still accessible on free television and note that games shown exclusively on streaming or cable services remain available through local over-the-air broadcasts in the home markets of participating teams.

Even so, critics argue that fans increasingly face a fragmented and expensive viewing experience, forcing them to subscribe to multiple services simply to follow a full NFL season.

President Donald Trump has also criticized professional sports’ growing reliance on streaming, arguing that major events should remain broadly accessible to American audiences rather than being hidden behind subscription barriers.

Congressional attention to the issue comes alongside a separate federal investigation.

The Justice Department is reportedly examining whether the NFL has engaged in anticompetitive practices tied to media distribution and broadcast agreements.

When details of the investigation emerged earlier this year, officials familiar with the matter suggested concerns centered on affordability for consumers and ensuring fair competition among media providers.

Federal regulators have also shown increasing interest in the broader transition of live sports programming from traditional television to digital subscription services.

In March, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah urged both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to examine whether the NFL’s distribution strategy complies with the intent of the Sports Broadcasting Act.

The Federal Trade Commission has separately requested public feedback about how the migration of live sports to streaming platforms affects consumers and competition.

The debate is expected to intensify as the NFL pushes even further into streaming partnerships.

This upcoming season, Netflix is set to stream multiple NFL games, including an opening-week matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia, as well as a Green Bay Packers versus Rams game scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving.

The expansion signals that streaming is no longer a secondary platform for the NFL but an increasingly central component of the league’s business model.

For lawmakers, however, the shift raises difficult questions about whether federal laws written more than six decades ago still adequately regulate one of America’s most powerful sports organizations — and whether consumers are paying the price for an evolving broadcast strategy that increasingly favors exclusive digital deals over universal access.