WISCONSIN — Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald is leading a House Judiciary subcommittee review of the Sports Broadcasting Act. The subcommittee is examining whether the act's antitrust exemption continues to serve consumers due to current media practices involving multiple paid streaming services.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 established an antitrust exemption that allows professional sports leagues to pool media rights and collectively negotiate broadcasting contracts. Lawmakers reviewing the law note that professional leagues have used this antitrust exemption to secure exclusive broadcasting agreements with platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Fitzgerald said Congress should evaluate whether the National Football League's (NFL) use of the antitrust exemption harms consumers. The NFL divides broadcasting contract revenue equally among all 32 franchises. The Green Bay Packers state that this revenue-sharing model enables small-market franchises to remain financially competitive with larger-market franchises.

Fitzgerald stated his objective is not to repeal the Sports Broadcasting Act. He also said that revising the law would not alter the league's revenue-sharing structure. On June 9, Fitzgerald stated that keeping the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin did not factor into his legislative considerations.

Fitzgerald said, "We all love the NFL, we love football in Wisconsin and the Green Bay Packers. I think they flex their muscles so many times that we find ourselves in a situation where it needs to be reviewed, and that's my job." He said, "The Packers are going for 'hair on fire, oh my gosh, the world's coming to an end' if this would be tweaked."

No independent assessment of Scott Fitzgerald’s claims was available.