Trump Criticizes NFL Streaming Costs and Kickoff Rule Amid Antitrust Probes

President Donald Trump commented on the NFL's antitrust exemption fight as the FCC and Justice Department probe the league's business model.

The core issue is whether the NFL's move to stream games on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Peacock has made access too expensive for average fans. That shift could violate the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which grants the league its exemption.

In an interview with Sharyl Attkisson, she asked if the NFL was price gouging and whether the administration would act.

"It's tough," Trump replied. "You got people that love football. They're great people, they don't make enough money to go and pay this. It's tough. And [the NFL] could be killing the golden goose, I mean to have that stupid kickoff thing that you can't watch, it's unwatchable. I hate the games where they, you know, they have the new phony kickoff. I don't think it's any safer. I hope college football doesn't do that."

Trump dislikes the NFL's dynamic kickoff rule, which the league claims reduces head injuries.

On streaming costs, he added, "They have to be careful because others have tried this and all of a sudden you don't have a sport anymore. Probably will."

Trump said, "It's something, there's something very sad when they take football away from many, many people, very sad. I don't like it."

When pressed on government action, he replied, "I don't know, but I don't like it. I don't like it. They're making a lot of money. They could make a little bit less. You've got people that live for Sunday. They live, they can't think about anything else, and then all of a sudden they're going to have to pay $1,000 a game? It's crazy, so, I'm not happy about it."

No single game costs $1,000 to stream, but subscriptions to multiple platforms plus cable or satellite could exceed that per season to watch all games.

The 1961 act, signed by President John F. Kennedy, lets the NFL negotiate league-wide broadcast deals. This produces the highest broadcast rights revenue in U.S. sports, shared evenly among teams.

Even revenue distribution helps smaller-market teams like the Kansas City Chiefs build dynasties with multiple Super Bowl wins, while big-market teams like the New York Jets or Giants do not dominate just because of bigger budgets.

The act covers over-the-air TV but not streaming services, which cost extra for some fans. FCC and DOJ probes question if modern streaming deals violate the law.

The NFL's model relies on centralized media rights control under the exemption, but streaming complicates that justification.