Amid growing pressure from the White House, Congress, the Federal Communications Commissions and the Department of Justice over the cost of watching NFL games, the league continues defend the current market for major sports rights, saying “we have the most fan-friendly model there is of any sport...as far as distribution."
That defense was made by Hans Schroeder. executive vice president and chief operating officer of the NFL during a call with media outlets regarding the league’s 2026-27 schedule, which includes an expanded Netflix deal to stream five games.
The comments were made at a time when the NFL is facing more regulatory and political pressure than it has seen in decades. Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission opened an inquiry into broadcast sports rights following criticism of the NFL by FCC Chair Brendan Carr regarding the cost and complexity of finding and watching NFL games.
President Trump has also raised similar complaints and in April of 2026 the Department of Justice has opened a probe into the league, which has an exemption from anti-trust rules that allows it to negotiate deals with broadcasters and other outlets.
Rising political and regulatory pressure comes at a important juncture for the league. It recently reopened negotiations with broadcasters over its existing deals in the hopes of raising billions of dollars in revenue.
In the May 15 call with reporters, Schroeder stressed that most games remain on broadcast, with about 87% airing on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, but that in an era of cord cutting the league also wanted to reach fans on widely distributed platforms like Netflix.
During the call, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller also expressed doubts about the criticism the league has faced from the NAB and broadcasters in filings with the FCC.
“That’s a little bit odd given the relationship that we’ve had with the broadcasters and the fact that we continue to keep all of our games on broadcast television,” Miller said. “Heck, they inducted the NFL into the NAB Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. So, one would have thought that that relationship was good.”
Those May 15 remarks echoed much more extensive comments the league made to the FCC in April defending its media rights strategy after the regulator opened up a probe into the cost of major sports rights.
During an April meeting with FCC staff, NFL told the FCC that its current policy of distributing media rights “benefits fans and local broadcasters in many ways” and that attempts to end league’s antitrust exemption would mean “higher costs and confusion” for consumers.
“For many years, 100% of NFL games have aired on broadcast television in the home markets of the competing teams,” the NFL said in an April letter to the FCC describing the meeting. That letter also included an extensive slide deck relating to NFL media rights.
“Most of those games are distributed to a significantly broader geographic area, if not nationally," the letter continued. "Our contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC account for the distribution of more than 87% of all NFL games, a number that has varied little in the past two decades. This distribution model is good for our fans, for local television broadcasters, for our 32 clubs in small and large markets alike, and for the competitiveness of the game itself. The success of our fan- and broadcast-friendly strategy is evident as the 2025 season was the most viewed since 1989 and one of the most competitive in League history.”
