WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the morning of June 10, the House Judiciary Committee will conduct a hearing that seeks to examine the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and its effect on the modern broadcast market for major sports leagues.
By special request from the Committee Chairman, the Commissioner of the National Football League has been asked to offer testimony at the session.
As such, Roger Goodell is anticipated to appear at a hearing titled “Examining the Sports Broadcasting Act,” scheduled for 10am Eastern on June 10 in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
In particular, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) says the hearing will examine the ways in which the distribution of professional sports has evolved since the SBA was first enacted 65 years ago. It will also examine the extent to which the antitrust exemption created by the SBA has been used by the professional sports leagues to harm consumers and whether potential legislative remedies may be needed to address that harm.
“Please be prepared to summarize your testimony with a five-minute opening statement and answer questions posed by Subcommittee members,” Jordan directed to Goodell in a letter sent to the NFL head on Monday (6/1).
Goodell’s appearance comes in an era in which the NAB and broadcast television seeks to preserve access to pro sports play-by-play by keeping it out of the walled garden paywalls of Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Peacock and Amazon Video as often as possible.
