Donald Trump slammed the NFL this Sunday, accusing league executives of betraying loyal fans through expensive streaming-exclusive deals. This came amid the Department of Justice opening an antitrust investigation into the NFL’s media distribution model last month.
Donald Trump slams NFL for media deal
Speaking on Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, Donald Trump argued that exclusive agreements with services such as Netflix and Amazon have caused an unfair financial burden on viewers. “There’s something very sad when they take football away from many, many people,” he said.
The NFL has steadily moved marquee matchups behind paywalls. Thursday Night Football now streams exclusively on Amazon Prime, which costs subscribers $14.99 per month in the United States. Other games have migrated to Netflix, YouTube, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, requiring fans to maintain multiple subscriptions to follow their teams.
Trump described the change as harmful to the league’s core audience. “It’s tough. It’s a tough [one]. You’ve got people that love football. They’re great people. They don’t make enough money to go and pay this,” he told Attkisson. “It’s tough and they could be killing the golden goose.”
Furthermore, the president’s comments come as federal regulators examine whether the NFL’s streaming strategy clashes with the Sports Broadcasting Act. That legislation grants professional sports leagues an antitrust exemption to sell broadcast rights collectively, on the condition that games remain available on free, over-the-air television. Critics contend the migration of games to subscription-only platforms undermines the law’s intent.
Weighing in on the DOJ probe, Trump hinted at alignment with those critics without offering a legal opinion. “I don’t like it. They’re making a lot of money. They could make a little bit less,” he said. “They could let the people see. You have people that live for Sunday.” He further added, “They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden they’re going to have to pay a thousand dollars a game. It’s crazy. I’m not happy about it.”
The NFL has consistently rejected accusations that it is abandoning its broadcast audience.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
