“I think the important note to take there is that there is no tension with the NFL,” Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of FOX and son of Rupert Murdoch, recently said. At the same time, though, it is also worth noting that Rupert Murdoch and FOX were among the first to push for federal pressure on the NFL over the league’s growing ties with streaming companies, a shift that could eventually hurt traditional broadcasters like FOX. And now, for the first time since the situation unfolded, the NFL has finally responded while describing the entire move as “a bit odd,” despite having a good relationship.

“I certainly saw the comments at the FCC that the NAB filed, that Fox filed, as well, and have heard the comments they’ve made on Capitol Hill repeated back to us, questioning, the Sports Broadcasting Act and asking for it to be revisited,” said NFL communications executive Jeff Miller. “I guess that’s a little bit odd, given the relationship that we’ve had with the broadcasters, and the fact that we continue to keep all of our games on broadcast television. …So, you know, one would have thought that that relationship was good. I don’t know what, revisiting the SBA does for broadcasters.”

Miller’s comments followed a report from The Wall Street Journal claiming that back in February, Rupert Murdoch met with Donald Trump and encouraged increased pressure on one of FOX’s biggest partners, the NFL, amid the league’s expanding relationship with streaming companies.

Per reports, Murdoch and top FOX executives warned Trump that if streaming platforms continued gaining rights to more NFL games, it could eventually damage traditional broadcast networks like FOX. Soon after, the Department of Justice reportedly opened an investigation examining the NFL’s antitrust exemption.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 allows leagues like the NFL to collectively package and sell broadcast rights rather than forcing individual teams to negotiate separately.

Over the past few years, however, the NFL has steadily leaned further into streaming platforms, requiring fans to purchase multiple subscriptions to fully follow the league.

And while the NFL has consistently defended the system by noting that over 87% of games still air on broadcast television each season, along with every game remaining available on local broadcast stations in participating team markets, lawmakers and regulators have increasingly started questioning whether the current model still serves fans the way it was originally designed to.

For now, the NFL still has longstanding media partnerships with traditional broadcasters like FOX, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC. At the same time, though, the league has increasingly leaned into streaming platforms as well, with Amazon Prime Video carrying Thursday Night Football, Netflix handling Christmas Day games, Peacock airing exclusive matchups, and YouTube landing Sunday Ticket.

The NFL’s current media agreements run through the 2033-34 season. However, the league also holds an opt-out clause in 2029, which gives the NFL the ability to potentially walk away from FOX altogether and place its Sunday afternoon package back onto the open market while renegotiating future rights deals.

Under the current agreement, FOX reportedly pays roughly $2.25 billion annually for NFL rights. So if the league eventually decides to move away from FOX entirely, especially while continuing to lean further into streaming platforms, it could seriously threaten the network’s long-term NFL future.

And that is exactly why FOX’s growing political pressure against the league exists in the first place, something the NFL itself admitted felt “a bit odd” considering the longstanding relationship between both sides. But at the same time, the league isn’t ready to back down even after President Donald Trump accused them of “price gouging.”

NFL refuses to back down and defends its streaming model

As the NFL continues building deeper relationships with streaming platforms, the average NFL fan now reportedly has to spend more than $600 across services just to follow a full season. That is exactly why Donald Trump recently criticized the league’s media model during an interview with Full Measure and admitted he was unhappy with the direction things are heading.

“You’ve got people that love football, they’re great people, they don’t make enough money to go and pay this, it’s tough,” Trump said, while also adding, “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. They’re making a lot of money, they could make a little bit less and they could let the people see…You have people that live for Sunday. They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden they’re going to have to pay a thousand dollars a game. It’s crazy. I’m not happy about it.”

Still, the league itself has shown no signs of backing away from it. In fact, NFL executive vice president Hans Schroeder recently defended the system publicly, saying:

“We love our model. We think we have the most fan-friendly there is. …We think we’re the most available, broadly distributed of any sports & entertainment.”

The league currently generates roughly $10 billion annually under its existing media agreements, which run through the 2033-34 season. As part of the NFL’s approximately $110 billion media-rights structure, FOX pays around $2.2 billion annually, CBS contributes $2.1 billion, NBC pays roughly $2 billion, while Amazon Prime Video contributes around $1 billion per year. Meanwhile, ESPN still holds the largest package at approximately $2.7 billion annually.

And while the NFL continues emphasizing that over 87% of league games still air on broadcast television, the larger concern surrounding the league’s strategy has not exactly disappeared.

Because as more streaming companies place live sports behind subscription paywalls, many fans feel it has become increasingly expensive just to consistently follow their favorite teams and sports. Still, despite growing political pressure and public criticism, the NFL has not shown any real willingness to back down from its current model.