April 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the National Football League has engaged in anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation.
The nature and scope of the investigation could not immediately be learned, the WSJ said.
The National Football League and U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In February, the Federal Communications Commission said it was reviewing the growing shift of live sports to pay TV and subscription services away from broadcast networks.
The NFL has said more than 87% of its games are aired on free broadcast TV and that all games are aired on free broadcast television in markets of participating teams.
The DOJ has been probing whether the NFL is violating antitrust law by moving TV rights behind streamers, a Semafor reporter said on social media platform X.
The FCC said that last year, NFL games aired on 10 different services and cited estimates that it could cost a consumer more than $1,500 to watch all games.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Andrea Ricci )
