New York families pay more than $1,400 per year to watch their favorite teams, yet broadcast monopolies still leave fans missing out
Owners have exclusive control on airing games and sell rights to patchwork of networks, increasing costs and decreasing accessibility
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Pat Ryan wrote to the United States Comptroller General and the Commissioners of the four major sports leagues demanding an investigation into sports blackouts. Owners of sports teams have exclusive control on who airs games, and sell these rights to a patchwork of networks and streaming services, leaving fans with no option but to pay thousands of dollars to watch their favorite teams on streaming services like Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and ESPN+. Because of these monopolistic practices and “blackouts,” fans still can’t do the one thing they want: watch their favorite teams play ball.
“Yesterday was the sports equinox, the one day of the year that all four major professional sports leagues play at once. Yet New Yorkers, who already pay thousands of dollars a year to watch their favorite teams, stared at black screens because billionaire owners care more about profit than their fans. It’s total BS,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “I’m demanding that the United States Comptroller General and Commissioners Goodell, Manfred, Bettman, and Silver immediately launch an investigation into sports blackouts to make sure New Yorkers don’t continue to get screwed.”
“At the end of a long day, all we want to do is watch the Yankees and Knicks with our families,” Ryan continued. “Whether you’re a senior in Kingston or a parent in Newburgh, you shouldn’t have to buy 6 streaming services just to find out the game is blacked out. The leagues make more than enough money – let’s put power back where it belongs: with the fans.”
Since the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, Congress has granted sports leagues an antitrust exemption for their broadcasting agreements, allowing them to sell the rights to show certain games in a season off to the highest bidder. When sports teams sell the exclusive broadcast rights to their games to different content providers throughout a single season, it forces fans to either sign up for multiple expensive services or face a blacked out screen when they try to watch games.
During the 2023 MLB season, for example, Mets and Yankees fans in New York were blacked out from 25 games each because the league had sold exclusive rights to the games to streaming services like Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Peacock. Fans who wanted to watch every Mets game this season had to fork over more than $1,400 to a variety of streaming services to avoid blackouts. Congressman Ryan is calling on the Government Accountability Office to fully investigate whether sports leagues are abusing their antitrust exemption to take advantage of fans, as well as steps federal agencies and Congress can take to restore fan access to games.
