Exclusive | Utah Sen. Mike Lee urges DOJ, FTC to probe soaring costs of watching NFL, other pro sports on streamers

Sen.Mike Lee is urging the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to probe the soaring costs of watching NFL and other sports games, as the FCC has signaled it may crack down on pro leagues’ deals with streamers, The Post has learned.The Utah Republican, who chairs the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee, on Monday called on the DOJ’s Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to probe whether the law governing rights to air games serves consumers in the age of streaming, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The Post.Under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, leagues have been able to pool their individual teams’ TV rights into massive packages and hold deals with multiple streamers – forcing football fans to spend roughly $1,000 on cable and streaming services if they wanted to watch every NFL game this past season, Lee wrote.“I request that your antitrust enforcement agencies examine the Sports Broadcasting Act and its applicability to current media landscape,” the senator wrote in a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.“The Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights welcomes your expertise as we evaluate whether the statute continues to serve consumers or should be revised to reflect modern market conditions,” added Lee, who called streaming “a new trend in televised sports that may harm American sports fans.”The DOJ and FTC did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.Last week, the Federal Communications Commission asked the public for comment on how the shift from traditional TV broadcasts to streamers has impacted consumers – a potential first step before a more serious investigation.NFL games, for example, aired on Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Netflix, YouTube and six other streamers last year, the FCC Media Bureau noted in its filing — citing a higher estimate to watch every pro football game, on the order of about $1,500.“For decades...