FCC chairman questions NFL’s antitrust protection as league shifts to streaming services

FOX Business correspondent Darren Botelho interviews FCC chair Brendan Carr about the investigation into skyrocketing sports streaming costs on 'America Reports.'

NFL fans will likely have to spend more to watch the league’s full slate of games each week in 2026. 

A YouTube TV "NFL Sunday Ticket" subscription can cost several hundred dollars, but does not provide access to every game. Fans must also subscribe to Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix to watch the full slate. All-in costs for these packages exceed $1,500, but that figure does not include fees or internet costs.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has made it a priority to support American sports fans as the NFL, NBA, MLB and other leagues move key games from broadcast and cable television to costly streaming services. However, the NFL could lose its antitrust exemption if too many games are placed behind a paywall, Carr said this week.

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The NFL shield logo on the field at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 25, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee/magn Images)

"Does the NFL still benefit from the antitrust exemption when they’re negotiating for carriage of games not on a sponsored telecast, but on a streaming service?" Carr said at an event in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, via Semafor. "That’s a very live, very ripe question."

Carr cautioned there is "a point at which you sort of tip the scale, and they’ve just put too many games behind a paywall, and then that whole exemption collapses."

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A 1961 law allows the NFL to negotiate leaguewide TV deals without violating U.S. antitrust rules, provided it