Roger Goodell Just Blew Off Jim Jordan and Now His Sweetheart NFL Deal Is in Danger

Congress handed the NFL a sweetheart deal in 1961.

Roger Goodell just got caught breaking that deal.

What he did when Jim Jordan demanded an explanation will make your blood boil.

Goodell Refuses to Testify on NFL Streaming Costs While Fans Pay Over 1000 Dollars a Year

Jim Jordan invited Goodell to testify at a June 10 hearing titled "Examining the Sports Broadcasting Act" – a direct inquiry into whether the NFL has weaponized a 1961 antitrust exemption against the very fans who built the league.

NFL general counsel Ted Ullyot sent the rejection letter.

Goodell declined, citing "ongoing litigation related to the topic of the hearing."

That litigation is the NFL's Sunday Ticket antitrust case, still grinding through the courts.

Translation: the commissioner of America's most powerful sports league is hiding behind lawsuit language to avoid a five-minute opening statement.

Jordan's letter to Goodell was direct: the hearing would examine whether the NFL's streaming deals "harm consumers and whether potential legislative remedies may be needed."

The NFL Antitrust Exemption Was Built on a Promise of Free Broadcast TV

Congress passed the Sports Broadcasting Act in 1961 as a trade.

The NFL got the right to bundle all 32 teams' broadcast rights and sell them as a single package – shielded from the antitrust rules that apply to every other American business.

In exchange, fans would get their football free on broadcast television.

The NFL kept that promise for decades.

Then the money got bigger.

Today, Thursday Night Football sits exclusively behind Amazon Prime. Netflix owns Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Eve. Peacock controls a standalone Saturday night game. Only 33% of NFL games are currently accessible on free broadcast television – the same free TV the 1961 exemption was written to protect.

Watching the full 2026 season requires subscriptions across Amazon, Netflix, Peacock, YouTube TV, and more – over $1,500 before internet costs.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr – a Trump appointee – identified exactly what that means legally.

"Does the NFL still benefit from the antitrust exemption when they're negotiating for carriage of games not on a sponsored telecast, but on a streaming service?" Carr asked at a Washington event in March. He warned there is "a point at which you sort of tip the scale, and they've just put too many games behind a paywall, and then that whole exemption collapses."

The NFL is sprinting toward that line.

DOJ Investigation NFL Streaming and the Numbers Goodell Will Not Say Under Oath

Republican Sen. Mike Lee launched a DOJ and FTC probe in March over the streaming cost spiral.

The DOJ opened its investigation in April – focused specifically on affordability for consumers.

The FCC launched its own inquiry simultaneously.

Jordan's House Judiciary Committee had been building toward this since August 2025, when it first demanded briefings from all four major sports leagues on their broadcast arrangements.

Now the NFL faces federal investigators on two fronts and a congressional hearing – and Goodell's answer is to skip the hearing.

A Fox News poll found 72% of fans believe major sporting events should be required to air on free broadcast television.

A separate NFL survey found 93% of fans believe the league is now too expensive to watch – and 79% said they have skipped games because they couldn't find or afford where they were streaming.

Goodell knows every one of those numbers.

He just doesn't want to say them under oath.

This Is What Accountability Looks Like

The NFL's current media rights deals run through 2033 and are worth over $110 billion.

The antitrust exemption makes every dollar of that possible.

Without it, each of the 32 teams sells its own rights – and the revenue gap between the Cowboys and the Jaguars detonates the salary cap.

The entire financial architecture of professional football rests on a 65-year-old law Congress passed to protect fans.

Goodell has been cashing that check while routing games to Netflix.

Jordan asked him to explain himself in person.

He sent a lawyer's letter instead.

The hearing is June 10.

Goodell will not be there.

But the question of whether Congress pulls the exemption that funds the whole operation – that question is very much on the table.

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Sources:

• Warner Todd Huston, "NFL Commish Roger Goodell Declines to Testify Before House Hearing on League's Broadcast Deals," Breitbart, June 7, 2026.
• Chantz Martin, "FCC Chairman Questions NFL's Antitrust Protection as League Shifts to Streaming Services," Fox News, March 28, 2026.
• "Congress Targets NFL's $110B Broadcast Model as Jim Jordan Requests Goodell Testify at June 10 Hearing," Fox News, June 2, 2026.
• "Senator Lee Urges Probe of NFL's Soaring Streaming Service Prices," Office of Sen. Mike Lee, March 3, 2026.
• "Watching the NFL Will Cost More, Require More Streaming Services Than Ever This Season," OutKick, May 2026.
• "House Judiciary Committee Invites Roger Goodell to Testify at Hearing on Sports Broadcasting Act," NBC Sports/Pro Football Talk, June 2026.