The National Football League
Link: https://www.nfl.com/
Undoubtedly, the National Football League (NFL) is America’s leader in the entertainment industry. The league attracts significant viewership on traditional satellite television networks and streaming platforms. As more Americans embrace professional football viewership, anti-trust issues have emerged. The anti-trust concerns are related to disregard for competition and monopolistic behavior: The National Football League.
One of the anti-trust concerns is that increased broadcast revenues have watered down competition. There is little to no correlation between a team’s performance and revenue. For instance, the Kansas City Chiefs made $230-300 million in revenues between 2008-2009 (James, 2021).
The revenue has since increased significantly, with the team estimated to be worth $2.1 billion in 2018 (James, 2021). It was then ranked 24th out of 32 participants in the league. During this time, the team’s performance did not correlate to the revenue made.
Another issue related to anti-trust laws exhibited by the NFL is its monopoly in issuing broadcasting rights. The league fully controls which television networks receive broadcast rights, potentially limiting the entry of new players into the industry. For instance, in 2021, the NFL signed a $100 billion with major television networks such as Fox, Amazon, CBS, ESPN, ABC, and NBC (James, 2021). The NFL effectively prevented other smaller players from entering the industry by offering major television networks broadcasting rights.
Also, the NFL’s broadcasting model violates basic anti-trust laws regarding contracting. One such case was when the NFL admitted to conspiring with DirecTV and reached a deal that hurt commercial interests. Other broadcast deals with other players, such as Amazon, harm consumers because they must subscribe to an entire cable network to watch football. This is more of a conspiracy to market such TV cables, forcing consumers to have multiple subscriptions.
References
James, S. (2021). The NFL’s anti-trust problem in the streaming era. The Journal of Corporation Law, 46, 3. https://jcl.law.uiowa.edu/sites/jcl.law.uiowa.edu/files/2021-08/James_Final_Web.pdf
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Question
Select a professional sport organization or a NCAA Division 1 college. To make sure you do not select the same company as a classmate, place the organization name in the title of the discussion thread. Each classmate should select a different organization. Answer the following questions:
- If you selected a pro sport organization, describe an issue being faced by that organization. The issue should not be one related to the game itself, or about individual players/coaches. It should be more about the business or operations side of the organization
- If you selected a college, describe an issue being faced by that athletic department.
- Include the organization’s website (URL) in your post.
The National Football League