The US House Judiciary Committee has reached out to the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB to discuss the long-standing Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) and its associated blackout rules, according to Yahoo Sports. The move signals a potential reexamination of the decades-old law that grants the four major leagues a limited antitrust exemption for television broadcasting.
Passed in 1961, the SBA was originally designed to allow the NFL to collectively negotiate its broadcast rights, streamlining deals with networks. It also included provisions permitting leagues to restrict certain broadcasts — commonly referred to as blackouts — in local markets when a home team is playing at the same time. Per Yahoo Sports, the committee now believes the broadcasting landscape has evolved so much since the 1960s that the current rules may no longer fit today’s media environment.
In a statement, the committee noted that most sports viewership now occurs outside traditional television, with streaming platforms increasingly central to how games are consumed. This shift has created what they describe as “legal uncertainty” in the marketplace, as some distribution deals remain shielded from antitrust scrutiny while others do not. According to Yahoo Sports, the letters to the commissioners specifically referenced recent antitrust cases that have raised questions about whether the SBA should be revised or repealed.
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The request for briefings was signed by both Republican and Democratic leaders on the committee. Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Subcommittee Chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) joined Ranking Members Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in sending letters to Adam Silver (NBA), Roger Goodell (NFL), Gary Bettman (NHL), and Rob Manfred (MLB). The commissioners have been asked to arrange meetings before August 25 to address their leagues’ role in the broadcasting market and blackout policies.
The outcome of these discussions could have significant implications for how fans access live sports in the future. While traditional broadcast deals still dominate in many markets, streaming services — from network-affiliated platforms like Peacock and Paramount+ to newcomers like Netflix entering live sports — are increasingly competing for rights.
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