Green Bay Packers Warn Congress: Ending Broadcast Protections Threatens Franchise Survival

2026-04-06 politics

Washington, D.C., Monday, 6 April 2026.
The Green Bay Packers warn that repealing the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act threatens their survival, jeopardizing the equal revenue sharing that delivered $432 million to each franchise in 2025.

The Legislative Threat to an NFL Anomaly

In late March 2026, the Green Bay Packers initiated an aggressive lobbying campaign directed at Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to halt potential changes to federal broadcasting laws [2][4]. Formal letters were dispatched on March 26 and March 28 to key political figures, including U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), as well as Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) [2][3][4]. The correspondence was also copied to a bipartisan coalition featuring Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore, alongside Republican Senator Ron Johnson [2]. The urgency stems from an ongoing, present-day review of the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA) of 1961 by the House Judiciary Committee, which is scrutinizing the decades-old law over emerging antitrust concerns [2][4].

Streaming Shifts and Antitrust Scrutiny

The congressional appetite to revise the SBA is largely driven by the rapid evolution of sports media consumption and the proliferation of streaming platforms [1][5]. Lawmakers have expressed growing frustration over the financial burden placed on consumers. Utah Senator Mike Lee recently urged the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the NFL’s strategy of licensing games to streaming services and tech companies, noting that dedicated fans spent nearly $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions to watch every game during the most recent season [5]. Furthermore, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly seeking early renegotiations of the league’s broadcast deals—currently set to expire in 2033—to potentially favor streaming services over traditional television networks, a move that could further inflate viewer costs [5].

Preservation of the Small-Market Model

For the Packers, the only publicly owned, not-for-profit franchise in major American professional sports [GPT], these proposed regulatory shifts represent an “existential threat” [1][2][3]. Aaron Popkey, the Packers’ Director of Public Affairs, emphasized that the team operates in by far the smallest market in the NFL, making the shared revenue model the sole mechanism allowing them to remain financially viable and competitive [1][3]. Popkey warned that altering or repealing the SBA would undermine financial equity, destabilize coaching salaries, and cripple the franchise’s ability to acquire talent or maintain facilities [1][4]. The team maintains that while they understand the need to adapt to multiple viewing platforms, 100 percent of Packers games currently remain available on free, over-the-air television in their home market [1].

Sources

Antitrust exemption Broadcast rights