By Mallory Mattingly
The Federal Communications Commission wants your input. What do you think about the recent shift in live sports accessibility, as viewing moves from broadcasting to subscription-based streaming platforms?
“For decades, Americans enjoyed turning on their TV & quickly finding the game they wanted to see,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted on X. “Yet watching your favorite team play isn’t as easy these day. Many games are still on broadcast, but an increasing number are on a range of different online platforms.”
Historically, “Sports leagues leveraged the wide distribution of broadcast TV to help grow their fan base and expand their revenues,” a notice from the FCC reads. “In turn, broadcast television stations used the popularity of live sports and the advertising revenues from the programming to support their own industry and operations, including funding the local news and reporting that are so important to our country.”
Today, though, many sports leagues partner with subscription-based streaming services like Peacock, Prime Video, Paramount+ and more.
Related: Prime Video to Stream NFL Wild Card Playoff Game Next Season
The notice asks commenters to address “the current and emerging trends in the distribution of live sports programming,” answering questions such as:
- How does the present marketplace benefit or harm consumers?
- How does the recent trends towards fragmentation facilitate or inhibit the ability of local broadcast television stations to meet their public interest obligations, including their production of local news and reporting?
- In what ways is the marketplace continuing to evolve and how will future changes impact consumer access to free over-the- air news and information, including public safety information?
The FCC’s Public Notice is available here:https://t.co/bBLzDzXvKs pic.twitter.com/h4weoyey3e
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) February 25, 2026
The AP reported that “Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted for coordinating their broadcast television rights.”
As Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) explained in a letter last year, the move from broadcasting to streaming puts a strain on many sports fans’ wallets.
“It is sometimes more difficult and more expensive for some fans to watch their teams during the season,” the letter stated. “In some major sports leagues, a fan may need to sign up for multiple streaming platforms and purchase an over-the-air antenna to watch every game at home. Even then, because every major sports league has its own blackout restrictions, there are certain games that fans cannot watch at home regardless of how much they are willing to pay or how many streaming services they purchase.”
Hopefully changes will be made to ease the ever-increasing burden created by needing multiple streaming platforms.
Read Next: Netflix to Host Two Christmas Day NFL Games
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +4