League Officials Face Questions on Streaming and Broadcasting Future

Senators questioned officials from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League on Tuesday about the state of sports broadcasting and the future of streaming live games.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hosted the hearing titled, "Field of Streams: The New Channel Guide for Sports Fans."

The witnesses included Kenny Gersh, Executive Vice President of Media and Business Development for MLB, William Koenig, President of Global Content and Media Distribution for the NBA, and David Proper, Senior Executive Vice President of Media and International Strategy for the NHL.

Committee chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) opened the hearing expressing frustration with the new reality of watching live sports.

"Sports viewing has become more splintered, requiring multiple apps and subscriptions just to watch a single franchise's entire season," Cruz said. "Streaming may well be the future, but it shouldn't sideline the fans."

Lawmakers questioned some sports broadcasting practices including game "blackouts" — in which a game isn't available in a certain market due to broadcasting agreements — and the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act.

Ryan Glasspiegel, a media and entertainment reporter for Front Office Sports, said given the current sports broadcasting climate, the law is outdated.

"This law was drawn up when there were three channels: ABC, NBC, and CBS, and now obviously we have all these cable channels and all of these streaming services."

The major U.S. sports leagues now air some games exclusively on platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Max and Netflix. That means fans who want to watch every game can end up paying extra for multiple streaming subscriptions.

"You're basically clobbering the consumer, making everything more expensive," Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) told the league officials in attendance.

Lawmakers didn't lay out exactly what they wanted to see from the leagues.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) did tout one example of a league and broadcaster reaching more fans, citing an agreement between the Vegas Golden Knights and Scripps that allows fans across Nevada to watch the Knights free of charge over-the-air on local broadcast television.