- Rep. Pat Ryan is furious over the NFL’s historic decision to air a playoff game exclusively on a streaming platform.
- Ryan, a House Democrat, blasted Commissioner Roger Goodell and NBC Sports over the move.
- The Chiefs-Dolphins game will, for the vast majority of the country, only be available on Peacock.
Rep. Pat Ryan, a New York Democrat, is fed up with the NFL and NBC Sports over the decision to nationally air one of the league’s six first-round playoff games exclusively on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that my constituents, who already pay for NBC, have to pay even more to watch this game,” Ryan wrote in a letter to top NFL and NBC officials. “How much more profit do Roger Goodell and NBC need to make at the expense of hard working Americans before they are satisfied? I’m demanding the NFL and NBC stop the BS and offer fans the service they already pay for, or we’re coming for your antitrust exemption.”
Ryan, who has been outspoken about the issue in the past, wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NBC Sports President Rick Cordella to express his displeasure.
“Fans already face exorbitant prices to watch every game during the regular season; they don’t deserve to be squeezed even further by greedy corporations,” Ryan added. “This bait-and-switch is particularly egregious for consumers who already pay for NBC as part of their cable package.”
A potential start of a shift in how games are aired that irks viewers
NBC’s decision is historic as it will mark the first time that the nation’s most popular professional game will essentially paywall a playoff game.
The matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl Champs, and the Miami Dolphins also features one of the NFL’s most valuable stars in Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is looking for a third title. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who started his career in Kansas City, will also return to Kansas City as one of the league’s most electric offenses seeks the franchise’s first playoff victory since 2000.
In response to Ryan, the NFL pointed out that the game will be available over-the-air on NBC affiliates in Kansas City and Miami.
The league also pointed out that all of the remaining playoff games will be available over-the-air nationwide in addition to other platforms. But the league defended this weekend’s decision as “consistent” with the NFL’s long policy of creating “as many ways as possible to meet our fans where they spend their time.”
“We understand that in the first few years of moving some games exclusively to digital platforms our viewership will likely not reach broadcast levels, but just as the NFL on ESPN grew into a huge platform following its debut in 1987 when cable was relatively young, we are confident these moves will be a tremendous success,”Alex Riethmiller, the NFL’s vice president of communications, said in a statement to Business Insider.
A major antitrust issue is lurking underneath the surface here
As Ryan points out, Congress opened the door to this reality decades before streaming platforms were even possible.
In 1961, lawmakers gave the NFL and other pro leagues an antitrust exemption that allowed leagues to make deals with TV networks directly on behalf of their teams.
As Sports Business Journal previously detailed, this law fundamentally changed American sports. Congress’ action also effectively guaranteed that for most of the fall that high school football games would be on Friday, college football on Saturday, and the NFL would close out the slate on Sunday.
In recent years, lawmakers who have been critical of the NFL for a variety of reasons have threatened the league’s antitrust exemption.
The US’ four largest sports leagues, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, are increasingly relying on streaming services to bring fans not only out of market games but to create exclusive events that require subscriptions to one or more of a respective league’s broadcast partners. The massive shift comes as the nation’s TV networks and cable channels fork over billions of dollars to air games. NBC Sports reportedly pays the league more than $2 billion a year for its slice of NFL games.
According to Sportico, the NFL’s collective TV rights alone are worth roughly $105 billion over the course of an 11-year deal with its partners, including NBC, that began in 2023.
A representative for NBC Sports did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment.
