The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the NFL for potential anticompetitive tactics, a government official told CNBC. The investigation stems from questions about “affordability for consumers and creating a level playing field for providers,” the official said.
The government’s investigation comes as the NFL seeks to renegotiate media rights deals with its broadcast networks sooner than expected, CNBC previously reported. The league is also reportedly considering more games with the streaming giant. Netflix.
In a statement to CNBC, the league called its media distribution model “the most fan- and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry,” and said more than 87% of NFL games are broadcast on free television.
Teams are still broadcast on the broadcast networks in their local markets, whether the games are shown on cable television or streamed only.
“The NFL has for decades put our fans at the forefront of how we distribute our content. The 2025 season was the most watched since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL’s distribution model and its broad availability to all fans,” the league said.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the DOJ investigation.
Last week, Fox Corp.which owns a package of NFL Sunday games, and Sinclair, which owns affiliated stations, raised a similar issue with the Federal Communications Commission. Media companies have reportedly told the FCC that sports should not be allowed behind paywalls — such as exclusive streaming deals — because it means higher costs for consumers and additional problems for traditional television.
As the cost of sports media rights has skyrocketed, so have the costs borne by consumers, through increasingly fragmented media packages that can require multiple subscriptions as well as price increases for these services.
The NFL is currently in the midst of an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal that will last through the 2033-34 season with broadcast networks CBS, NBC and Fox, as well as Disney’s ESPN and Amazon’s Prime Video.
However, the league is beginning to renegotiate its deals with broadcast partners, which would result in an increase in league revenue and eliminate an opt-out clause after the 2029-2030 season, ensuring a longer runway for games to remain with their current broadcast partners.
All major sports leagues in the United States have seen a similar distribution of games on traditional television and streaming platforms, but the NFL, with the shortest schedule, still has the highest concentration of games broadcast on television.
Recently, the NFL entered into renewal negotiations with Paramount Skydance CBS for a deal that would keep a package of Sunday games on the broadcast network, CNBC previously reported. CBS currently pays about $2.1 billion annually, and a potential increase resulting from renewed negotiations could result in the network paying more than $3 billion in the next deal, CNBC reported.
While live sports, particularly the NFL, garner the highest audiences for linear television, the league has entered into various streaming-only deals in an effort to reach consumers without traditional television packages.
Amazon’s Prime Video is the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football, and in recent years Netflix has hosted the Christmas Day games. The league also signed one-time exclusive streaming deals for select games, including the playoffs, with the streaming counterparts of traditional media companies like NBC’s Peacock.
During a CNBC x Boardroom Game Plan 2024 event, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution Hans Schroeder discussed the growing importance of streaming to the league’s future. At the time, he noted the league’s Wild Card game, which aired exclusively on Peacock, as “the most transformative moment” in recent years.
—CNBC Jessica Dore contributed to this report.