Sportsnaut
Commissioner Roger Goodell of the National Football League recently said that the league views Apple and Google as its primary competition from an influence and growth perspective. Following in the footsteps of its competition, the NFL is now lobbying Congress for support of a multi-billion-dollar deal.
Jody Godoy and Dawn Chmielewski of Reuters reported that the NFL has recently “performed outreach” to 30 different Congressional offices. The effort is all part of gaining support for the pending deal with Disney, with NFL Media, Red Zone and other league-owned media properties sold to ESPN in exchange for a 10 percent stake in the company.
Related: Multi-Billion-Dollar NFL, ESPN Deal May Require President Trump’s Approval
ESPN announced its acquisition of NFL Network and the rights to RedZone on August 5, also disclosing that it will take on the league’s fantasy football product and integrate it into the ESPN Fantasy Football platform. There was also a second deal, with the NFL agreeing to license other NFL content and intellectual property to ESPN. The move will also allow for NFL Network to be a part of the upcoming ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming product that’s set to launch this fall and cost $29.99 per month.
The deal is valued to be worth billions of dollars, but it requires government oversight and approval because of concerns centered around equal competition. As a result, per Reuters, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is “expected to conduct a substantive review” of the ESPN-NFL deal. One source indicated that obtaining antitrust clearance from the United States government could take up to 12 months.
“In an era of deep partisan division, sports might be the most powerful cultural unifier we have. But those millions of fans are asking a simple question: ‘Why does it seem to be getting harder — and more expensive — to just watch the game?'”
Senator Ted Cruz, a member of the Commerce Committee, on the rising costs for watching NFL games (H/T Reuters)
NFL officials have already started making their case to Congress on how the deal with ESPN “would result in greater consumer choice.” Of note, per The Wall Street Journal, the NFL also recently acquired an equity stake in CBS as part of the company’s partnership with Skydance.
Read More: Where NFL Revenue Comes From
President Donald Trump, who has publicly called for the Washington Commanders to change their team name back to what it was before they made the change in 2022, is also expected to have significant influence on how the U.S. government responds to the deal.
The NFL has already demonstrated its willingness to collaborate with the current administration, with Goodell having Trump announce at the White House that Washington D.C. will host the 2027 NFL Draft. Goodell also had the league remove the “End Racism” messaging from the backs of its end zones before Super Bowl LIX, and he met with Trump during the game.
More must-reads:
