FCC seeks comment on current state of sports rights deals

The FCC is seeking public comment on sports rights deals, citing an increase in frustration over the fractured nature of who holds the license to what sports, teams or matchups outside of broadcast TV.

“Many games are still available for free over broadcast TV, but there has been a surge in recent years of games going behind the paywalls of various streaming services,” reads the notice the FCC issued Feb. 25, 2026. “While this can increase the number of games and sports available to fans, many consumers today find it more difficult to find the events they want to watch and are now paying to sign up for one or more video distribution platforms that consumers can find difficult to navigate.”

The statement goes on to read: “From a historic perspective, live sports and broadcast television have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship—one that worked well for consumers too. Sports leagues leveraged the wide distribution of broadcast TV to help grow their fan base and expand their revenues. In turn, broadcast television stations used the popularity of live sports and the advertising revenues from the programming to support their own industry and operations, including funding the local news and reporting that are so important to our country,” the notice continues. 

The notice, which was posted through the Media Bureau division of the FCC, requests comments on how to address current and emerging trends in the distribution of live sports programming. 

“How does the present marketplace benefit or harm consumers? How does the recent trends towards fragmentation facilitate or inhibit the ability of local broadcast television stations to meet their public interest obligations, including their production of local news and reporting? In what ways is the marketplace continuing to evolve and how will future changes impact consumer access to free over-the-air news and information, including public safety information?” the notice reads.

The FCC does not have any regulatory control over streaming, but it does oversee over-the-air broadcasting and these networks still control significant portions of the live sports market.

Because it is only in the request for comment stage, it’s not clear how the FCC might take action with this issue, if at all.

The posting notably appears to suggest that a decrease in OTA live sports could affect linear broadcasters’ financial ability to offer news and information, including public safety messages. 

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Comments can be submitted either through the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System or on paper address to the attention of the secretary of the Federal Communications Commission. Reply comments can be posted to the ECFS as well according to the announced deadline.