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Are the Murdochs and Ellisons behind FCC's recent interest in sports fragmentation? (AwfulAnnouncing.com)
https://amp.awfulannouncing.com/nfl/murdochs-ellisons-behind-fcc-brendan-carr-interest-sports-fragmentation.htmlHere’s the sitting FCC chair directly threatening the NFL’s antitrust exemption on a cable network owned by Fox Corporation. Fox, in a matter of weeks or months, will begin negotiating a new deal with the NFL that could determine its viability as a business for years to come. It’d be wise for Fox to gain as much leverage as it can before entering those negotiations. And outside of simply threatening to walk away from the negotiating table and ride out the rest of its current contract until the NFL’s opt-out clause hits after the 2029 season, which Fox would assuredly like to avoid, there’s not a lot of leverage the network can exert.
Of course, the cozy relationship between the Murdoch family, which owns a controlling stake in Fox Corporation, and the Trump administration is well-documented. There’s alignment here. The Murdochs need leverage over the NFL in media rights negotiations, lest Fox agree to a financially ruinous deal that jeopardizes the company’s future. The Trump administration can help Fox secure that leverage by deploying Carr to threaten the NFL’s antitrust exemption, all the while platforming an issue that is politically advantageous. And doing so helps ensure that Fox remains financially healthy enough to continue being an ally to future Republican administrations.
The same can be said of the Ellison family, who completed the purchase of Paramount last summer, in part due to a wink-wink, nudge-nudge deal with Trump to shift CBS News to the right. Paramount and the NFL are in active negotiations; the league wants to strike a deal with Paramount before its other partners, as the Ellisons’ recent purchase of the company triggered a change-of-ownership clause that would allow the league to exit its deal immediately if it chose to do so. Just like Fox, CBS benefits from federal pressure on the NFL to keep games on broadcast television rather than stream them.
Is it a coincidence that now is the time that Brendan Carr has chosen to start regularly talking about the NFL’s antitrust exemption? Or is it a result of strategic backchanneling from two well-connected families that are in good with the current administration?
Of course, the cozy relationship between the Murdoch family, which owns a controlling stake in Fox Corporation, and the Trump administration is well-documented. There’s alignment here. The Murdochs need leverage over the NFL in media rights negotiations, lest Fox agree to a financially ruinous deal that jeopardizes the company’s future. The Trump administration can help Fox secure that leverage by deploying Carr to threaten the NFL’s antitrust exemption, all the while platforming an issue that is politically advantageous. And doing so helps ensure that Fox remains financially healthy enough to continue being an ally to future Republican administrations.
The same can be said of the Ellison family, who completed the purchase of Paramount last summer, in part due to a wink-wink, nudge-nudge deal with Trump to shift CBS News to the right. Paramount and the NFL are in active negotiations; the league wants to strike a deal with Paramount before its other partners, as the Ellisons’ recent purchase of the company triggered a change-of-ownership clause that would allow the league to exit its deal immediately if it chose to do so. Just like Fox, CBS benefits from federal pressure on the NFL to keep games on broadcast television rather than stream them.
Is it a coincidence that now is the time that Brendan Carr has chosen to start regularly talking about the NFL’s antitrust exemption? Or is it a result of strategic backchanneling from two well-connected families that are in good with the current administration?