NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declined an invitation to testify at a June 10 House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and its impact on today’s media market for major leagues. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had requested Goodell’s appearance earlier this week.
In a letter sent Wednesday, June 3, NFL General Counsel Ted Ullyot informed Jordan that Goodell will not attend “due to ongoing litigation related to the topic of the hearing.”
The NFL defended its current media strategy in the letter, stating that 87% of all games in the upcoming 2026 season will air on free-to-air broadcast television. Even for games with national streaming rights on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, or Netflix, local broadcast stations in each team’s home Designated Market Area (DMA) will carry the matchup. The league noted this arrangement also applied throughout the 2025 season.
The NAB has pushed back against this shift, emphasizing that multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) differ from subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. Broadcast and cable channels appear together in cable lineups, whereas access to Netflix content, for example, is restricted to subscribers only.
Despite the NFL’s position as the leading U.S. professional sports league in advertising revenue and viewership, the league received support from Capitol Hill. ESPN reported that the NFL also forwarded to Jordan a letter signed by 21 members of Congress urging caution on any changes to current broadcast regulations.
In his letter, Ullyot warned that altering the league’s media distribution model—established under the Sports Broadcasting Act—would raise costs for fans, create confusion, and undermine the competitive balance that makes NFL games compelling.