Last week, amidst all the news coming out of Iran and the Persian Gulf, and the latest Graham Platner scandal, an event occurred in Washington that might have held the attention of sports fans across the nation. It was a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee called to examine whether the NFL had abused its antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to inflate prices and limit fan access.

Lawmakers and witnesses piled on the NFL’s broadcasting practices, suggesting that legislative reforms might be introduced to strip or alter the league’s protections which granted professional sports leagues limited antitrust immunity to pool their individual teams’ broadcasting rights and sell them as a single league-wide package to television networks.

For once Republicans and Democrats actually agreed on something, namely that the NFL is harming consumers by moving games to expensive streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Peacock meaning that fans are forced to juggle a host of increasingly expensive subscriptions just to follow their favorite teams.

The hearing came about after a staff report stated that documents revealed that ESPN proposed a Sunday Ticket package priced at just $70 per season, but that the NFL objected to the lower price to protect its profitable revenue stream. Further the NFL actively opposed allowing fans to buy a cheaper, team-by-team subscription. The report also noted that the NFL claim that Sunday Ticket is a “premium product only for avid fans who want every game,” was not true because data showed that 70% of subscribers only buy it to watch one specific out-of-market team.

One of four witnesses, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) CEO Curtis LeGeyt testified that the SBA’s original 1961 intent, which was meant to ensure fans got free, over-the-air local broadcasts, is being violated by exclusive streaming deals. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was invited to testify but declined, citing the ongoing appeal of the Sunday Ticket lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit Court. Because no NFL executives were present to defend the league, the two-hour hearing saw the NFL’s defense giving up a lot of yardage in public opinion.

Congress warned that if the NFL does not willingly offer affordable, flexible single-team options, lawmakers will pursue legislative reforms to reform or completely revoke the league’s antitrust immunity. Over the air networks like Fox have complained about the league continually siphoning premium games off free, over-the-air television and putting them on streaming platforms. In response to the probe, the NFL has publicly stated that its distribution model is “fan and broadcaster-friendly”. The league claims that about 87% of games are available on free, local over-the-air broadcast television, and 100% of games are broadcast locally in the competing teams’ markets.

Determining where a game is being televised can get very confusing at times as seen here. The NFL is available on broadcast networks FOX, CBS, NBC, and ABC. It can also be seen on cable channels ESPN, ESPN2 and the NFL Network plus on streaming services Amazon Prime, Netflix, Peacock and Paramount+.

Major league Baseball can be found on the FOX, NBC, and ABC broadcast Networks plus cable channels TBS, ESPN, and the MLB Network. Also, MLB shows up on Apple TV, Netflix, Peacock, ESPN+, MLB TV.

Today sports fans have many ways to follow their favorite teams and sport, but it can get a little costly depending on your satellite or cable service and the number of streaming services you select. Back in the mid 1950s when I first became aware of television sports broadcasting the selection was in no way as great but only required a television set and some sort of antenna.

Back then the place for the NFL was CBS that broadcast regional games on Sunday. Our regional game was the NY Giants. When the AFL came along ABC broadcast the games from 1960 to 1964 with NBC taking over in 1965 through 1969 and becoming the home of the American Football Conference from 1970 through 1997.

In those simpler days most baseball teams sold the broadcast rights to local radio stations. My brother and I listened to the NY Giants on WMCA, the Brooklyn Dodgers on WMGM, the St. Louis Cardinals on KMOX and the Pittsburgh Pirates on WWVA.

NBC began broadcasting the Saturday Game of the Week in 1957. CBS began its Game of the Week in 1955 with Hall of Fame Pitcher Dizzy Dean doing play by play, occasionally singing his rendition of “The Wabash Cannon Ball.” We finally got the full TV schedule of Mets games in 1962.

Back in those days televised sports pickings were slim, but still we were just happy to watch our teams and whatever else was available.

Finally, I think that NFL and MLB owners are reaching the point of over monetizing their sports. Back in 1965 in the days of War Memorial Stadium you could watch a Bill’s game in the open end zone for $3 per ticket. Sideline seats cost $7.00. Parking on the street cost nothing or from 50 cents to $1 in neighborhood lots and beer and a hot dog each cost around 35 to 50 cents. It was a nice inexpensive way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Today it’s reported that a family of four could spend from $1,500 to $3,000 at the new stadium and that the cost of attending a Bills game has increased by more than 10,000% far more than the inflation rate

It’s not much better at MLB games. In 1965, a family of four could attend a game for about $14 that included seat, parking, soda and hotdogs. In 2026 the total cost of the above would be about $225.90. That’s an increase of roughly 1,850%.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com