End Sports Blackouts Now!
Earlier this year, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Furthering Access to Network Sports (FANS) Act. This bill aims to eliminate the cause of most sports blackouts: take-downs during transmission consent disputes.
When broadcasters and pay-TV distributors argue over contract terms, too often it’s the consumer that gets caught in the middle when programming is taken down during a dispute. And more often than not, that consumer is a sports fan who just wants to watch the game.
The US government has given the NFL and other sports leagues a powerful antitrust exemption in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. However, the taxpaying fan has received nothing in return for this exemption. By conditioning the NFL’s and other sports leagues’ antitrust exemption on prohibiting distributors from taking down games during a retransmission consent dispute, we can effectively eliminate a major source of TV blackouts.
End Sports Blackouts Now!
Earlier this year, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Furthering Access to Network Sports (FANS) Act. This bill aims to eliminate the cause of most sports blackouts: take-downs during transmission consent disputes.
When broadcasters and pay-TV distributors argue over contract terms, too often it’s the consumer that gets caught in the middle when programming is taken down during a dispute. And more often than not, that consumer is a sports fan who just wants to watch the game.
The US government has given the NFL and other sports leagues a powerful antitrust exemption in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. However, the taxpaying fan has received nothing in return for this exemption. By conditioning the NFL’s and other sports leagues’ antitrust exemption on prohibiting distributors from taking down games during a retransmission consent dispute, we can effectively eliminate a major source of TV blackouts.