Threats of the Trump administration bringing up antitrust issues against the NFL were realized earlier this week when it was confirmed that the Department of Justice is opening up an investigation.
Analysts believe President Trump wants to "even the score," but not necessarily only for consumers -- more for media companies.
This includes some that Trump is in favor with, perhaps, Paramount Skydance. Trump is close to the Ellisons, both David (CEO of Paramount) and Larry (David’s legendary billionaire father, major investor in Paramount Skydance for its Warner Bros. Discovery merger deal).
But more appropriate public messaging, according to reports, reveals that it is about “[affordability](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/doj-investigating-nfl-media-rights-antitrust.html?qsearchterm=NFL) for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers,” according to one official, as reported by CNBC.
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Responding to the news, the NFL reiterated its position that more than 87% of the NFL games are free on broadcast television.
Supporters of the NFL would say this is true versus regular-season games of the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, where media deals are made with premium cable regional sports networks -- or now, regional or national streaming networks.
Some of these are where consumers need to pay upwards of $25 a month for those services.
But there is a flip side. The FCC and the Trump Administration had no problem with antitrust issues when it came to Nexstar Media Group -- the biggest owner of U.S. TV stations with over 220 stations -- giving the company federal approval to buy Tegna, another large TV station.
Nexstar currently is at its limit, according to FCC rules, when it comes to reaching 39% of U.S. TV homes. With Tegna, the percentage for the new company will rise to 80%. The FCC has waived this rule for Nexstar.
Analysts believe that the new outcome for the NFL will indeed shift some over-the-air games to paid streaming. This could possibly include more games for Netflix.
The NFL is working on peeling away around five games for current media owners -- Paramount, Skydance, NBCUniversal, Fox Corp., Walt Disney and Amazon Prime Video.
The league could be looking to hike prices by a massive 50% over the original 11-year deals that started with the 2023-24 stations.
Paramount’s CBS (and Paramount+) pay an estimated $2.1 billion per year. Under a new deal -- per an NFL option that gives it the right to renegotiate -- CBS could end up paying another $1 billion a year.
Fox Corp. -- like Sinclair Inc, the second-largest owner of the U.S. TV stations -- also raised the NFL antitrust issue publicly, last week.
Both Fox Corp. and Sinclair have a strong conservative political focus when it comes to their respective news content -- something Trump has praised from time to time.
The NFL exemption from antitrust issues allows it to negotiate media deals for all its 32 teams -- rather than each team negotiating national media deals separately.
Considering Trump's longtime involvement in attempting to sway the media -- which has involved him getting settlements in lawsuits, as well as the pulling of late-night talk show hosts off the air temporarily or permanently -- shouldn't we at least ask the obvious question: with who -- and why -- is there a need to play ball?