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Broadcasters tell Congress the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act was meant to protect free over-the-air access
Summary
The National Association of Broadcasters argued the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act created a public-interest bargain guaranteeing broad free access to major sporting events; NAB urged enforcement and warned that migration of games to streaming services undermines local stations and funding for local journalism.
Curtis Legette, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, told the subcommittee that the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 created a limited antitrust exemption intended to preserve free over-the-air broadcast access to professional sports.
"The law is about free over the air broadcasting, not paywalls," Legette said, urging committee members to reaffirm the Act's scope and enforcement. He provided audience examples to underline his point: NFL broadcast games on CBS, Fox, and NBC averaged about "44,700,000 viewers per game," while an Amazon-streamed game drew about "16,000,000." Legette warned that when leagues put games behind multiple subscription walls, consumers and local stations lose out, and that the revenue broadcasters get from live sports helps finance local news and emergency coverage.
Legette said NAB is not asking Congress to repeal the Sports Broadcasting Act but wants the committee to clarify and enforce the "guardrails" that limit the Act to broadcast distribution. He suggested looking at enforcement tools to prevent league deals from effectively excluding broadcast distribution or turning national moments into subscription-only content.
