DOJ probes NFL over streaming deals as antitrust exemption draws scrutiny
The Justice Department is probing the NFL’s exclusive streaming deals amidst fan frustration over fragmented and paid access. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr questions if the league should retain its special antitrust exemption, initially established by the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act. Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley suggests Congress examine the NFL’s monopoly structure, highlighting their $25 billion annual revenue and rising fan costs.
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Streaming giant Netflix’s push into live sports has ranged from the WWE and Formula 1 to select MLB and NFL games.
While the initiative has drawn some criticism, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the strategy is not aimed at securing full-season rights packages for any sports league.”
“We’re not bidding on whole season of sports, including the NFL,” Sarandos told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday. So far, Sarandos’ comments have held true with Netflix prioritizing marquee events, including Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and the New York Yankees’ opening-day shutout of the San Fransisco Giants.
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The Netflix logo is displayed on a building in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
Sarandos holding a firm line on the company’s stance comes amid ongoing federal scrutiny into NFL, and more broadly, the trend of sports rights growing more fragmented. Some have argued the trend makes its most costly and ultimately difficult for fans to view games.
NFL FACES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE AFTER FANS EXPRESS FRUSTRATION WITH STREAMING PIVOT: REPORT
However, federal scrutiny into sports fragmentation has brought the topic of live sports on streaming services to the forefront.
“Remember, most folks are paying for television through pay-television packages that are much more expensive than Netflix,” Sarandos said, suggesting that despite being technically free, broadcast networks are most often bundled within paid services.
Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix, speaks during the Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth groundbreaking in Eatontown, New Jersey, on May 13, 2025. (Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
As of May, Netflix’s introductory ad-supported tier starts at $8.99 per month. The standard plan begins at $19.99 per month, while the premium tier starts at $26.99 per month. Prices can increase if subscribers add additional members. The basic plan has been discontinued.
“As viewers move a little bit from linear more and more into streaming and on-demand, if the games aren’t there, it seems kind of ridiculous. You don’t run in the opposite direction of the American consumer,” Sarandos continued.
This fall, Netflix will once again have an exclusive window for a Christmas Day NFL doubleheader while expanding its overall footprint to five games during the 2026 season. The league’s first-ever game in Australia in Week 1 will stream exclusively on Netflix, while a Thanksgiving Eve matchup will also be included in the California-based company’s expanded NFL rights package.
Netflix and NFL signage advertises the NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games streaming live on Netflix in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Dec. 1, 2024. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
“This is something that is great for the consumer because it gives an inexpensive, very affordable way to watch sports, and television, and movies, and kids programming, and podcasts, and play games. All those things for $8.99 is an amazing proposition for consumers,” Sarandos said, addressing regulatory scrutiny of sports streaming rights and whether exemptions should apply when non-linear platforms acquire a share of a league’s inventory.
“It’s great for the leagues that they have an active competitive base of folks bidding for those games, so that’s valuable. I think it’s an important part to the American success story of the economy, is that you can lean into it and be competitive, and you have to deliver.”
Amid concerns that only a select number of tech companies could wind up controlling premium entertainment, Sarandos pushed back, arguing, Sarandos countered, arguing, “I’d say people probably said the same thing when pay-television, which most people are probably watching this show on right now, came in and took the place of TV over the antenna. This is kind of a natural evolution of technology and consumer demand.”
A Fox News poll in March indicated that 72% of sports fans think major sporting events should stay free on broadcast TV, amid reports that the NFL is considering allowing teams to sell the rights to preseason games to streaming services.
NFL fans who want access to every game need to purchase YouTube TV for “NFL Sunday Ticket,” in addition to the costly subscriptions for all the streaming services the NFL broadcasts on.
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Those streaming services are Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The combination of those respective services is over $1,500 a year, and that doesn’t include the fees that come with basic cable packages or high-speed Wi-Fi that is needed to accommodate the platforms.
Front Office Sports reported the annual NFL Honors ceremony, which takes place in the days leading up to the Super Bowl in the host city, is expected to move to Netflix beginning in February. The 2027 Super Bowl is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 14 from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
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