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Pakinomist contributor and OutKick founder Clay Travis unleashed on the National Football League in a heartfelt testimony about the cost of watching games from home.
During his testimony, Travis spoke up[d] for the reasonable fan” in efforts to put an end to what he called illegal “pay-per-view”.
“Every single day, sports fans are now being ripped off for the opportunity to see their favorite teams. Fans are now paying far more money each year for something you guaranteed them by law in 1961 to be free,” Travis began.
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NFL fans walk outside the Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on February 6, 2026. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“Most of your constituents are frustrated. They don’t know how to find games and they have to pay way too much when they have the opportunity to actually watch those games. I don’t know how many of you remember the days when you could have one remote in your hand and you could easily turn to any other game… They just want to be able to watch their favorite team and not have to.”
“You have an important responsibility and an opportunity to apply the law fairly, freely, and help fans across the nation pay less and get more.”
Travis then said the NFL “clearly … violates the clear intent of the law.”
Netflix and NFL signs announce the NFL’s two Christmas Day highlight games streaming live on Netflix in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 1, 2024. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
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“It was designed to make sure that fans get free access to games. Anything that fans have to pay for, outside of telecasts, is outside of that 1961 exemption,” Travis said.
Back in March, the Senate Judiciary Committee asked for a review of the law. Congress passed legislation allowing leagues to pool their media rights and sell them nationally, a move that helped to NFL games a staple of free network television. Today, the same collective rights agreements are increasingly being carved up for streaming platforms, sparking a backlash from fans frustrated by paywalls and platform hopping.
If you were strictly to stream all NFL games throughout the 2025 season on Sunday Ticket, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited and NFL+, it would have cost a minimum of $575, and others (former Sunday Ticket viewers) nearly $800.
The sports leagues have cashed in on the hub of streaming, with the NFL landing $1 billion a year to air “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon, for example. The exemption in the Sports Broadcasting Act adopted in 1961 only applies to broadcast television.
The NFL logo is painted on the field at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, before Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks on February 8, 2026. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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Courts have previously ruled that this does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games that still apply to out-of-market packages sold by the leagues.
