Time to Tackle Sports Broadcasting's Antitrust Exemption: AAF
As the House Judiciary Committee looks at the antitrust exemptions in professional sports, including how leagues negotiate rights with broadcasters, Congress should also examine parity with other technologies like streaming and cable, wrote Jeffrey Westling, the American Action Forum's director…
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of technology and innovation policy. The exemption that professional sports franchises have from antitrust liability for joint agreements to sell TV rights covers only broadcasting rights, he said Tuesday. "It may be time for Congress to eliminate the statutory exemptions" so courts can review individual transactions. That would still let leagues jointly negotiate with broadcasters, but anticompetitive agreements would be subject to court review, Westling added.