Warren, Ryan Urge FCC to Protect Sports Fans from ‘Streamflation,’ as ESPN’s New Arrangements with NFL, MLB Threaten Fans with Higher Costs

Warren, Ryan Urge FCC to Protect Sports Fans from 'Streamflation,' as ESPN's New Arrangements with NFL, MLB Threaten Fans with Higher Costs

In response to a request for comment from the FCC, lawmakers "encourage the Commission to act to protect sports fans from growing consolidation."

ESPN NFL deal "concentrates market share and power with ESPN, to the detriment of fans and competitors."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Patrick Ryan (D-N.Y.), in response to a request for comments by the agency, wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr with their concerns over recent changes in the sports streaming marketplace that have increased costs for viewers while affecting fans' ability to watch nationally televised live sports and their local teams.

The lawmakers pointed out four major areas of concern:

• Disney's Acquisition of Fubo Has Decreased Competition in the Sports Streaming Market: In August 2024, lawmakers expressed concerns about a proposed joint venture (JV) between Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney subsidiary ESPN that was projected to control more than 80% of nationally broadcast sports. Sports streaming platform Fubo filed a lawsuit to block the venture, but before the lawsuit could reach the merits stage, Disney announced its acquisition of Fubo, knocking out a competitor and abruptly ending the lawsuit.

"[I]n a surprising turn of events, and before the lawsuit could reach the merits stage, Disney announced its acquisition of Fubo in January 2025, which allowed the sports media giant to end the lawsuit, knock out a competitor, and grow its sports streaming dominance even more, significantly decreasing competition in the vMVPD market, while strengthening its ability to raise prices, hurting viewers and competitors," wrote the lawmakers.

• The Recent Deal Between Disney/ESPN and the NFL Harms Competitors and Gives the Sports Media Giant an Incentive to Raise Prices for Viewers: A year later, ESPN struck a deal to acquire the National Football League (NFL) Network, which included the distribution of NFL games, NFL RedZone, and NFL Fantasy. In exchange, the NFL acquired 10% of ESPN.

"By consolidating the production, operation, and distribution of the NFL Network under ESPN, while simultaneously granting the NFL a 10% stake in ESPN itself, the deal raises concerns of conflicts of interest and potentially disadvantages competing networks, streaming competitors, and distributors," wrote the lawmakers.

• ESPN's New Arrangement with MLB.TV Could Raise Prices and Reduce Access for Baseball Fans: Most recently, Major League Baseball (MLB) and ESPN agreed to a multiyear deal allowing ESPN to produce and broadcast 30 regular season games, making ESPN the home of MLB.TV, and obtaining exclusive local in-market streaming rights for six MLB Clubs. Notably, ESPN will determine the price of MLB.TV, is requiring new MLB.TV subscribers to sign up for the service through ESPN's own Platform, and has not committed to maintaining price stability for MLB.TV's existing subscribers past the 2026 season.

"The anti-competitive nature of ESPN and MLB's new deal raises serious concerns about potential downstream effects on consumers and competitors," wrote the lawmakers.

• Forced Bundling Has Inflated Streaming Prices and Has Forced Viewers to Pay for Services They Do Not Want: For viewers, the consolidation of the sports streaming market into "bundles" or "packages" has led to higher prices and fewer choices, a consequence of decreased competition in the market.

"The cost of watching live sports on television or via streaming becomes more expensive every year, and the options for tuning in become even more complicated," wrote the lawmakers.

The FCC has broad authority to protect the public interest, and Congress has previously specifically directed the Commission to actively promote economic competition.

"To promote competition in sports media in support of the public interest, we encourage the Commission to act to protect sports fans from growing consolidation," concluded the lawmakers.

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