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Breaking: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Refuses Testify Before Congress

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declined the option to testify before congress regarding an ongoing investigation. The news of the refusal has gone viral and the reason why has garnered even more attention.

Here are the details.

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Here is Why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Refused To Testify Before Congress

It has been announced that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will not be testifying before Congress next week regarding the league’s broadcast deals and its recent practice of streaming games on paid streaming services.

A letter from league general counsel Ted Ullyot to the committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday expressed Goodell’s decision not to appear at a hearing on June 10 on the topic of the hearing.

As one of several elected officials who have raised concerns about the price fans have to pay to watch NFL games, Jordan has questioned whether the league’s streaming deals comply with the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which granted the league a limited antitrust exemption.

According to sources at the New York Post:

The law applies only to broadcast networks. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. There has been bipartisan sentiment in favor of updating the law.

“The NFL’s decision to license a few more games to widely adopted streaming services is simply a reflection that those platforms now offer significantly more reach than the current pay TV ecosystem and that broadcast television remains the foundation of our media distribution,” Ullyot wrote.

A spokeswoman for Jordan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The league also sent a letter to Jordan signed by 21 members of Congress urging caution with any changes to the broadcasting law. Ullyot’s letter said the SBA helps maintain competitive balance because it supports “broad media distribution, substantial revenue sharing among the clubs, and a collectively bargained salary cap.”

“If the league were not to handle media distribution as it has since the passage of the SBA,” the letter said, “the result would be to harm NFL fans through increased cost and confusion and the undermining of the competitive balance that makes NFL games so exciting.”

Ullyot stated in his letter to Jordan that 87% of this season’s games will be broadcast over the air, and that every game in the competing teams’ home markets will be broadcast live over the air. As a result of the increased number of games being viewed on streaming services, the number of games being viewed on cable television has decreased.

It will be interesting to see where this investigation goes and if there is any repercussions for the league who continues to utilize more streaming services.