FCC chair warns NFL that increase in streaming could “collapse” antitrust exemption

FortressX said:

FCC chair warns NFL that increase in streaming could "collapse" antitrust exemption

Hogs may not get slaughtered, but they could lose their broadcast antitrust exemption.

www.nbcsports.com

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Sounds like a billionaire has his hand out to other billionaires.

It should. We, as a country, give the NFL a HUUUUUUUUUGE privilege to essentially ignore our anti-trust laws. And how do they thank us? By moving more and more games to glorified PPV.

Oh and maybe modernize the SBA of 1961 while you’re at it.

Yeah, Trump's the guy who made the brilliant business decision of trying to have the USFL compete directly against the NFL. *thumbs up*

BennyBledsoe said:

Yeah, Trump's the guy who made the brilliant business decision of trying to have the USFL compete directly against the NFL. *thumbs up*

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I was just wondering how the article clearly says that "It’s been ripening, frankly, from the moment the NFL did its first cable-only deal in the 1980s" and you have to bring up Trump. With without him, this would have come to a head.

Because he's had it out for the NFL for 40 years? I think that's relevant.

FortressX said:

FCC chair warns NFL that increase in streaming could "collapse" antitrust exemption

Hogs may not get slaughtered, but they could lose their broadcast antitrust exemption.

www.nbcsports.com

Click to expand...

The oligarchy wants their cut.

JoeSixPat said:

Part of the oligarchy wants their cut of the other oligarchs’ revenues.

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FIFY

good....sick of jumping around looking for games.

The NFL has gotten way too greedy.
Yes definitely revoke the anti trust exemptions.

They went way too far in the pursuit of the almighty $ and screwing over the fans

Grogan14 said:

The NFL has gotten way too greedy.
Yes definitely revoke the anti trust exemptions.

They went way too far in the pursuit of the almighty $ and screwing over the fans

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True genius. The NFL anti trust exemption only applies to the Sports Broadcasting Act, giving them the right to pol broadcasting.
So revoking it would mean each team would find their own network to broadcast on. So games may not be available everywhere, the cost to fans would dramatically increase and without being able to share tv revenues you would have a competitive imbalance, which would likely end the salary cap and small market teams would have no chance.

But im curious about your last sentence. If not profit, what do you think a business is supposed to pursue?

tuckeverlasting said:

good....sick of jumping around looking for games.

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IMO the only way for this to change is for the current business model to collapse, and as much as I'd like to see it, I don't see it happening any time soon.

Let's face it, sports fits into the Internet era amazingly well, far better than I ever thought it would.

At its core it is a bunch of jocks playing kid's games, not much to see there, no?

Turns out it fits perfectly into the way social media thrives on hype and superlatives.

People love to express opinions and thrive on feedback, and both the on-field and off-field aspects of sports fit into that so well.

The end result is that sports is one of the few remaining "must-see TV", "appointment viewing" things left in the entertainment world.

In turn it's one of the last venues where advertisers feel they have an opportunity to gain some traction.

Sooo much money is being funneled into sports by the advertisers.

NFL appeals so much to advertisers since it's a short burst of action followed by a long period of inaction.

Perfect time for people to pick up their phones and scroll while Jim Nantz drones on about "Murder, She Wrote!".

Bob Kraft just put up a wall of screens on one end of the stadium just to cash in on people having nothing to do between plays and during "TV timeouts".

In the old day we used to get analysis of what was happening in the game between plays, but now that time is just too valuable to waste on indoctrinating fans on how the sport operates.

Three hours of game time is going to be boiled down to twenty minutes of action and maybe two minutes of highlights, so why bother understanding what is going on in great detail?

This is gonna keep working probably forever, since it is so rooted in people's desperate need to be heard.

The only way it ends is if people decide to read a book instead, and I doubt most people will do that.

Cut their profits and they probably try to make it up by sneaking in even more commercial stoppages during games or finding some other way to make the fans pay the difference.

It's us who always lose regardless.

Brotherblues said:

Cut their profits and they probably try to make it up by sneaking in even more commercial stoppages during games or finding some other way to make the fans pay the difference.

It's us who always lose regardless.

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Yes, hi, you've reached the logical conclusion of capitalism. How may we direct your call?

Bill Lee said:

This is gonna keep working probably forever, since it is so rooted in people's desperate need to be heard.

The only way it ends is if people decide to read a book instead, and I doubt most people will do that.

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I was just going to like your post but decided to say I think you are spot on! Last point even more. Nail. On. The. Head. Reading of books? Soon to be banished and made illegal. Can’t have that cutting into our profits can we?

PancakeBlockPaul said:

I was just going to like your post but decided to say I think you are spot on! Last point even more. Nail. On. The. Head. Reading of books? Soon to be banished and made illegal. Can’t have that cutting into our profits can we?

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Perhaps immodest to suggest, but maybe try Ian's new Kudos feature on the post...

I like to reward Ian for his innovation by applying the feature from time to time.

I hope others will too.

Bill Lee said:

Perhaps immodest to suggest, but maybe try Ian's new Kudos feature on the post...

I like to reward Ian for his innovation by applying the feature from time to time.

I hope others will too.

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. I’ve been wondering what exactly that does, like if it’s like reddits karma or something else but it looks like it makes the post more visible at the least. Correct me if I’m wrong. And done.

Streaming is quickly the way people watch TV. I don't see any difference in the NFL being on that as it would be to be on a cable station which hasn't threatened their antitrust exemption.

You take away NFL's antitrust exemption, it will be the end of the NFL. You will have the have and have nots. Teams like the Cowboys and Patriots with massive fan bases will cut a lucrative streaming deals that will allow them to spend a billion dollars a year on their roster while teams with small fan bases like the Browns will cut mediocre deals and be forced to have a roster of back ups. It will be worse than what we see in MLB.

Plus you will likely see countries like Saudi Arabia create their own football teams because there would be no stopping them. Anyone with billions of dollars could easily start up their own team and buy their way into whatever fractured league was left. With no anti-trust laws, there would be no way to stop them. And they would offer deals to other teams making it attractive for them to do.

With no anti-trust laws, there cannot be a centralized league body that sets the rules for all the teams. Every team would be their own entity and could conduct business however they wanted.

Rob0729 said:

Streaming is quickly the way people watch TV. I don't see any difference in the NFL being on that as it would be to be on a cable station which hasn't threatened their antitrust exemption.

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Really? You don't see the difference between free TV* and using 6 different platforms that we all have to pay money to subscribe to?

*Yes, some people choose to pay for broadcast stations, but anyone living near a big city can easily get ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox for free. It used to be one single game per week shown on cable TV exclusively, which was ESPN (a network the vast majority of people have access to).

Rob0729 said:

You take away NFL's antitrust exemption, it will be the end of the NFL. You will have the have and have nots. Teams like the Cowboys and Patriots with massive fan bases will cut a lucrative streaming deals that will allow them to spend a billion dollars a year on their roster while teams with small fan bases like the Browns will cut mediocre deals and be forced to have a roster of back ups. It will be worse than what we see in MLB.

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If they keep ****ing us fans over, I have no problem with the fans ****ing back.

Rob0729 said:

Plus you will likely see countries like Saudi Arabia create their own football teams because there would be no stopping them. Anyone with billions of dollars could easily start up their own team and buy their way into whatever fractured league was left.

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Um, no. That is not a natural result of losing the anti-trust laws. It won't mean anyone who wants to can just join the NFL.

Grogan14 said:

The NFL has gotten way too greedy.
Yes definitely revoke the anti trust exemptions.

They went way too far in the pursuit of the almighty $ and screwing over the fans

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You do realize getting rid of the antitrust exemption would put the greed of the NFL on hyperdrive. Jerry Jones would love to see the exemption gone. He would cut a huge deal with Amazon or another company for the rights to the Cowboys and start signing every major player. He could also sign the 10 best prospects coming out of college every year.

The only thing allowing things like salary cap, franchise tags, the draft, and anything that would put a cap on earnings of players is the antitrust exemption. If that is gone, it will be the wild wild west when it comes to draft prospects and free agents. There would be teams flushed with money and teams with no money. The NFL as we know it would be over. The NFL would be over.

It would be like college where the good teams play early in the year against teams that absolute garbage and in September games with final scores like 54-0 would become the norm. And only late in the season would the good teams play and there would likely only be 6-8 really good teams.