On May 11, Lachlan Murdoch told investors Fox had secured two additional NFL games for 2026, including a Sunday tripheader anchored by a Munich game in Week 15. Then he said it: “There is no tension really with the NFL. We’re partners for 30 years. We’re looking forward to being partners for the next 30 years.” A warm, reassuring statement. Except his father, Rupert Murdoch, spent February at a White House dinner lobbying President Trump to unleash federal regulators on that same league. The $110 billion NFL broadcast empire just became a family operation.
The White House Dinner That Started It All
STOCK PHOTO: The White House as seen on April 12, 2026.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Rupert Murdoch and his top lieutenants warned Trump that if streamers gained rights to more games, it “would kill broadcast networks.” Within weeks, the FCC launched a public inquiry into the fragmentation of sports telecasts. Shortly after, the DOJ opened an investigation into the limited antitrust exemption granted to the NFL and other major sports leagues. News Corp-owned outlets have amplified scrutiny of the league’s exemption. One dinner. Multiple federal actions. All pointed at the same target. One dinner triggered three federal probes.
What Fans Pay Right Now
Netflix and Hulu apps are displayed on an Apple TV system.
NFL games are now scattered across CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Peacock, and Paramount+, a fragmentation the FCC has flagged as its central concern. That fragmentation is the surface-level pain. The deeper problem is that the DOJ investigation could accelerate it. If the league’s antitrust exemption weakens, teams could negotiate individual broadcast deals, scattering games across even more platforms at higher prices. The cost of being a complete NFL fan is already brutal. The regulatory pressure Rupert triggered could make it worse. Nine platforms already carry NFL games in a single season.
The Networks Are Playing Defense
Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; NFL Network broadcasters Daniel Jeremiah (left) and Rich Eisen (right) interview Texas A&M Aggies coach Mike Elko during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NFL wants to renegotiate its broadcast deals early, before the 2029 opt-out clause gives the league an exit ramp on Fox. The league wants to lock in higher payments while its market value climbs. But the networks now have leverage they lacked six months ago: legal uncertainty. Fox pays roughly $2.25 billion annually through the 2033-34 season. CBS, NBC, ESPN, and Amazon hold similar commitments totaling roughly $110 billion combined. No network will rush to renegotiate upward while a DOJ investigation hangs over the exemption that makes those deals possible. $2.25 billion per year through 2033.
Streaming Giants Smell Blood
Multiple streaming services appear on a Roku TV.
The NFL has been shopping a five-game standalone streaming package for the 2026 season, and reporting from Awful Announcing indicates that YouTube, Netflix, and Fox itself are all in the bidding, turning what once looked like a two-horse race into a three-way fight. Amazon already owns Thursday Night Football. If the antitrust exemption falls and teams negotiate individually, streaming platforms could bypass the league entirely and bid for marquee franchises directly. Dallas. New York. San Francisco. The Cowboys alone could command a premium deal worth more than most teams’ entire current share. Think about that: one billionaire’s dinner with a president could restructure how every NFL game reaches every screen in America. Three bidders. Five games. One open lane.
The Cartel Holding Football Together
Jan 20, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Former Executive Chairman of Fox Corp Rupert Murdoch attends the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Mandatory Credit: Chip Somodevilla-Pool via Imagn Images
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 lets all 32 NFL teams pool their broadcast rights and negotiate as one entity. Revenue gets split equally regardless of market size. That exemption is the salary cap. The competitive balance. The reason Green Bay can compete with Los Angeles. Rupert’s pressure campaign targets that exact mechanism. Remove the exemption, and the NFL stops functioning like a league and starts functioning like 32 separate businesses. Big markets thrive. Small markets collapse. Same mechanism behind every ripple. Same dinner that started it. 32 teams. One pooled rights deal. One federal law propping it up.
The Voice From Inside the Contradiction
Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Newscorp chairman Rupert Murdoch (left) Jerry Hall (center), and Lachlan Murdoch (right) before Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Lachlan took full voting control of Fox and News Corp in September 2025 after a succession battle that paid his siblings roughly $1.1 billion each to walk away. His first major public statement on the NFL, seven months later, was a loyalty pledge. “Partners for 30 years.” Meanwhile, the company his father still influences has kept the league’s legal foundation in the news cycle. The affordability argument driving regulators’ interest originated at Rupert’s dinner table. $1.1 billion paid to each sibling for silence.
A 65-Year Shield Under Siege
May 9, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Dixon (83) works with coaching staff during the New England Patriots rookie camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
The NFL’s antitrust exemption has stood for roughly 65 years, surviving repeated congressional threats without ever being revoked. A 2024 jury awarded $4.7 billion in the Sunday Ticket antitrust case, the largest such award in NFL history, though a federal judge later overturned it. That verdict established legal precedent: courts will entertain antitrust claims against the league. The DOJ investigation follows that crack in the armor. The exemption that built modern professional football faces its first real existential test from federal regulators. $4.7 billion awarded, then erased.
Who Wins When the League Bleeds
Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Co-Chairman of 21st Century Fox Lachlan Murdoch in attendance before Super Bowl LI between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images
If the exemption survives, Lachlan’s loyalty strategy pays off and Fox keeps its seat at the table. If the exemption falls, the league’s negotiating power collapses and Fox negotiates directly with individual teams from a position of strength. The Murdochs win either way. Small-market teams face potential significant revenue losses without pooled revenue sharing. Analysts have floated a worst-case scenario: the NFL splitting into two tiers, wealthy-market franchises on premium platforms and everyone else fighting for scraps. Your team might be on the wrong side. Two outcomes. One family profits from both.
The Cascade That Hasn’t Finished
Jan 20, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Rupert Murdoch (L) arrives for the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Saul Loeb-Pool via Imagn Images
The NFL’s counter-move could reshape the entire equation: offer Congress guaranteed free over-the-air games in perpetuity, defanging the affordability argument driving the investigation. But that concession would cost billions in streaming revenue the league has spent years building. Meanwhile, the NBA and MLB hold similar exemptions. If the NFL’s falls, every major American sports league faces the same legal exposure. Watch the NFL spring owners’ meetings and any DOJ filings in the weeks ahead for the next signal. One White House dinner. One family playing both sides. And a regulatory chain reaction that could redraw how professional sports reach 330 million Americans. The cascade continues. Three leagues. One exemption. 330 million viewers in the crosshairs.
If your team ends up on the losing side of this fight, who do you blame first: the Murdochs, the NFL owners, or the fans who kept paying for every new streaming add-on? Tell us in the comments.
Sources:
Bloomberg, “Fox Corp. Acquires Rights to Two More NFL Games Next Season,” May 11, 2026
Wall Street Journal, “Rupert Murdoch’s High-Stakes Blitz Against the NFL,” May 7, 2026
CNBC, “DOJ Investigating NFL Over Media Rights and Antitrust Concerns,” April 9, 2026
Reuters, “U.S. Justice Department Opens Probe Into NFL Over Anticompetitive Practices,” April 9, 2026
Sports Media Watch, “FOX, NBC Acquire NFL Games From Ex-ESPN Inventory,” May 10, 2026
Hollywood Reporter, “Lachlan Murdoch: ‘There Is No Tension, Really, With the NFL,'” May 11, 2026
