Packers Push Back Hard Against Effort to Rewrite the Sports Broadcasting Act
The NFL's only publicly owned team says changing the 65-year-old law that lets the league pool its TV rights would threaten Green Bay's very existence.
The Green Bay Packers rarely wade into Washington politics, but this week they came out swinging. The team publicly opposed a push in Congress to make major changes to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the law that lets the NFL bundle its television rights and split the money evenly among all 32 clubs. For Green Bay, the smallest market in major American pro sports and a team owned by its fans rather than a billionaire, that even split is not a perk. It is the foundation the franchise is built on, and the Packers made clear they intend to defend it loudly.
What is the Sports Broadcasting Act, and why does it matter so much?
The Sports Broadcasting Act became law in 1961 after courts ruled that the NFL's attempts to control its members' broadcast rights ran afoul of antitrust law. The act carved out a narrow exemption that lets a league sell its national TV rights as one package instead of forcing each team to cut its own deals. That single change is what makes equal revenue sharing possible. Every team, from the Packers to the Cowboys, receives the same cut of those national contracts. Last season the league's national TV deals brought in roughly $432.6 million per team, all distributed equally. Without the exemption, big-market clubs could in theory chase their own richer local deals and pull away from smaller markets.
What changes are actually on the table?
There is no finished bill yet, but the pressure is real and growing. The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation earlier in 2026 into how the NFL uses the Sports Broadcasting Act. In June the House Judiciary Committee released a 27-page report titled 'The Sports Broadcasting Act: A Special-Interest Antitrust Exemption Gone Awry,' which argues the league has stretched the exemption beyond its original purpose and inflated prices for consumers. A House Judiciary subcommittee, led by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, has been examining whether the law needs updating and whether the NFL may even be violating it. The exact reforms are still undefined, but the direction is toward loosening the league's ability to pool rights.
Why are the Packers the team sounding the alarm?
The Packers are unlike any other franchise in the league. They play in the smallest market in major pro sports, they have no wealthy owner to absorb losses, and as a publicly owned, fan-held team they cannot take the private equity investment that other clubs have started to accept. That makes the equal split from national TV money less of an advantage and more of a lifeline. In their statement the Packers did not hide how high the stakes feel. 'This model is as foundational to the Packers' existence as the very bricks in Lambeau Field,' the team said. 'It is careless and unwise to rearrange the bricks.' They also took direct aim at Fitzgerald, calling it 'laughable' that a congressman from Wisconsin would lead the charge, and warning that fans should be concerned he gave 'zero' thought to keeping the team in Green Bay.
What would this mean for fans and the games they watch?
For now, nothing changes about how you watch football. More than 87 percent of NFL games still air free on broadcast television, a point the league leans on hard. 'The NFL's media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry,' the league said in its own statement. Fitzgerald, for his part, has pushed back on the doom scenario, telling Milwaukee station WISN that the Packers' fears are 'ridiculous' and 'almost laughable' and insisting the team will be fine. The deeper worry the Packers raise is competitive balance. If equal revenue sharing weakened, the financial gap between the largest and smallest markets could widen over time, and Green Bay argues no team is more exposed to that than they are. This is a fight in its early innings, with no bill, no vote, and a DOJ inquiry still unfolding.
Sources
- ESPN: Packers voice opposition to major changes to Sports Broadcasting Act
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