Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961
Encyclopedia
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 affects Title 15 of the United States Code
, Chapter 32 "Telecasting of Professional Sports Contest" (§§ 1291-1295)
's method of negotiating television broadcasting rights violated antitrust laws
. The court ruled that the "pooling" of rights by all the teams to conclude an exclusive contract between the league and CBS
was illegal.
The Act overrules that decision, and permits certain joint broadcasting agreements among the major professional sports. It permits the sale of a television "package" to the network or networks, a procedure which is common today.
The law has been interpreted to include the so-called "blackout rules" which protect a home team from competing games broadcast into its home territory on a day when it is playing a game at home. It also, in effect, protects high school football and college football game attendance by blacking out pro football games locally on Friday evenings and Saturdays during those sports' regular seasons.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA)'s broadcast packages are not subject to the antitrust exemption and it suffered for it, when the Supreme Court
ruled that the NCAA's restrictive television policies were a violation of antitrust law in the 1980s when the University of Georgia and University of Oklahoma sued the NCAA over television restrictions (limit of six television appearances over two years) established in 1952.
The College Football Association, an alliance of 64 schools from the major conferences and selected independents, sold their own television package in 1984, first with ABC, and later with CBS. The Big Ten and Pacific Ten conferences sold their own separate package, to ABC.
By 1990, the landscape changed. ABC had both the CFA, Big Ten, and Pacific Ten packages, and NBC the Notre Dame home package. It was once again relegated to limited appearances.
The CFA collapsed, and in 1995, the Southeastern Conference broke from the CFA, signing a national deal with CBS. They are the only major conference guaranteed a national "game of the week" because ESPN's games may come from any of the conferences they offer.
, (D
-PA
) proposed legislation to repeal the NFL's antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
Specter's concern was based on the National Football League
's NFL Network
, which is available in a limited number of homes, as compared to the other broadcasters of the NFL. For the 2006-07 NFL season, each NFL team annually earned more than $120 million in shared TV money. The league's officials negotiated various deals with CBS, NBC
, Fox
, and Disney, and ended up with a six-year (later extended to eight), $24 billion broadcast and cable rights contract. The television deals end in 2013. Additionally, DirecTV
paid $700 million every year through 2010 for its Sunday Ticket package. The Cablevision wikipedia page states that this agreement runs to 2014. The NFL also decided to keep an eight-game Thursday-to-Saturday night package in-house, placing it on its NFL Network
.
Both the Sunday Ticket and NFL Network became issues of concern to Specter, possibly because DirecTV
rival Comcast
is headquartered in Pennsylvania
. Comcast's Versus
network attempted to bid for the eight-game package the NFL gave to their own network, but lost.
The NFL Network still has not reached agreements with Time Warner Cable
and Cablevision to carry the league-owned network. League officials wanted an excessively high per-subscriber fee for the network in relation to its programming, according to Time Warner executives. Meanwhile, Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan has said nothing publicly about his negotiations with the NFL.
The NFL Network's high per-subscriber fees charged to the cable companies force cable firms to offer the channel as a premium-tier network. This, according to the NFL, is unacceptable, and they demanded their channel be placed on a basic tier, as compared to the higher-priced sports tiers. By doing so, cable companies would have to reduce the number of basic channels or increase the basic cable package rate to comply with the NFL's request. NFL rules however, require that NFL games shown on cable channels (including the NFL Network), be shown on a broadcast television station in the markets of the participating teams (subject to blackouts when necessary).
The other major concern is the lack of availability of NFL Sunday Ticket, restricting it severely through its exclusivity with DirecTV. A similar situation happens with NASCAR HotPass, which moved from the cable companies to DirecTV in 2007, and thwarted by Major League Baseball's MLB Extra Innings, which MLB attempted to push to DirecTV exclusively starting in 2009, but was stopped by threats from legislators.
In what may have been a goodwill gesture to Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey
and, in an effort to sway Specter, the NFL gave Time Warner and Cablevision subscribers a free week of programming between December 24 and December 30, 2006. The timing allowed subscribers to tune in to the Rutgers–Kansas State Texas Bowl matchup and another college bowl game featuring Minnesota and Texas Tech. Lautenberg had complained that many Rutgers fans in New Jersey were being unfairly denied the opportunity to watch Rutgers in the Texas Bowl because the NFL Network, which has rights to the game, had not yet reached deals with Cablevision and Time Warner Cable.
Title 15 of the United States Code
Title 15 of the United States Code outlines the role of the commerce and trade in the United States Code.Notable legislation in the title includes the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Consumer Product Safety...
, Chapter 32 "Telecasting of Professional Sports Contest" (§§ 1291-1295)
Overview
The Sports Broadcasting Act was passed in response to a court decision which ruled that the NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's method of negotiating television broadcasting rights violated antitrust laws
Competition law
Competition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, is law that promotes or maintains market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies....
. The court ruled that the "pooling" of rights by all the teams to conclude an exclusive contract between the league and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
was illegal.
The Act overrules that decision, and permits certain joint broadcasting agreements among the major professional sports. It permits the sale of a television "package" to the network or networks, a procedure which is common today.
The law has been interpreted to include the so-called "blackout rules" which protect a home team from competing games broadcast into its home territory on a day when it is playing a game at home. It also, in effect, protects high school football and college football game attendance by blacking out pro football games locally on Friday evenings and Saturdays during those sports' regular seasons.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA)'s broadcast packages are not subject to the antitrust exemption and it suffered for it, when the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled that the NCAA's restrictive television policies were a violation of antitrust law in the 1980s when the University of Georgia and University of Oklahoma sued the NCAA over television restrictions (limit of six television appearances over two years) established in 1952.
The College Football Association, an alliance of 64 schools from the major conferences and selected independents, sold their own television package in 1984, first with ABC, and later with CBS. The Big Ten and Pacific Ten conferences sold their own separate package, to ABC.
By 1990, the landscape changed. ABC had both the CFA, Big Ten, and Pacific Ten packages, and NBC the Notre Dame home package. It was once again relegated to limited appearances.
The CFA collapsed, and in 1995, the Southeastern Conference broke from the CFA, signing a national deal with CBS. They are the only major conference guaranteed a national "game of the week" because ESPN's games may come from any of the conferences they offer.
Current views on the Sports Broadcasting Act
In November 2006, former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen SpecterArlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
, (D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
-PA
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
) proposed legislation to repeal the NFL's antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
Specter's concern was based on the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
, which is available in a limited number of homes, as compared to the other broadcasters of the NFL. For the 2006-07 NFL season, each NFL team annually earned more than $120 million in shared TV money. The league's officials negotiated various deals with CBS, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, and Disney, and ended up with a six-year (later extended to eight), $24 billion broadcast and cable rights contract. The television deals end in 2013. Additionally, DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
paid $700 million every year through 2010 for its Sunday Ticket package. The Cablevision wikipedia page states that this agreement runs to 2014. The NFL also decided to keep an eight-game Thursday-to-Saturday night package in-house, placing it on its NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
.
Both the Sunday Ticket and NFL Network became issues of concern to Specter, possibly because DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
rival Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
is headquartered in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Comcast's Versus
Versus
Versus, often abbreviated v. or v, vs. or vs may refer to:- Media :* Versus , a United States sports channel, to be renamed NBC Sports Network in 2012* Versus , a Japanese action/horror film...
network attempted to bid for the eight-game package the NFL gave to their own network, but lost.
The NFL Network still has not reached agreements with Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
and Cablevision to carry the league-owned network. League officials wanted an excessively high per-subscriber fee for the network in relation to its programming, according to Time Warner executives. Meanwhile, Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan has said nothing publicly about his negotiations with the NFL.
The NFL Network's high per-subscriber fees charged to the cable companies force cable firms to offer the channel as a premium-tier network. This, according to the NFL, is unacceptable, and they demanded their channel be placed on a basic tier, as compared to the higher-priced sports tiers. By doing so, cable companies would have to reduce the number of basic channels or increase the basic cable package rate to comply with the NFL's request. NFL rules however, require that NFL games shown on cable channels (including the NFL Network), be shown on a broadcast television station in the markets of the participating teams (subject to blackouts when necessary).
The other major concern is the lack of availability of NFL Sunday Ticket, restricting it severely through its exclusivity with DirecTV. A similar situation happens with NASCAR HotPass, which moved from the cable companies to DirecTV in 2007, and thwarted by Major League Baseball's MLB Extra Innings, which MLB attempted to push to DirecTV exclusively starting in 2009, but was stopped by threats from legislators.
In what may have been a goodwill gesture to Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and, in an effort to sway Specter, the NFL gave Time Warner and Cablevision subscribers a free week of programming between December 24 and December 30, 2006. The timing allowed subscribers to tune in to the Rutgers–Kansas State Texas Bowl matchup and another college bowl game featuring Minnesota and Texas Tech. Lautenberg had complained that many Rutgers fans in New Jersey were being unfairly denied the opportunity to watch Rutgers in the Texas Bowl because the NFL Network, which has rights to the game, had not yet reached deals with Cablevision and Time Warner Cable.