The Act allows leagues to pool their broadcast rights and sell them as a package.
Here are the Positives:
- Antitrust Exemption: Leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL can jointly sell broadcast rights without violating antitrust laws.
- Blackout Rules: The Act restricts pro football broadcasts on Friday nights and Saturdays during the fall (from the second Friday in September to the second Saturday in December) if a high school or college game is happening within 75 miles of the broadcast station.
- Protects Local Football: This blackout provision was designed to preserve attendance and viewership for high school and college games.
Here are the Negatives:
- It was written for a TV-only era, but now games are streamed on Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, and more.
- Fans often need multiple subscriptions to follow their teams, raising questions about fairness and accessibility.
Congress is actively reviewing whether the law still serves its purpose or needs reform. The bottom line is that many fans are not only having to pay for what they used to get for free, they are also forced to weather through monstrous amounts of advertising when they pay to stream games. Could this be a betrayal of fan trust?