GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers are sounding the alarm over potential changes to a decades-old federal law that the team says is essential to its survival in Green Bay.
The Packers sent a letter to Wisconsin's entire congressional delegation warning that any disruption to the current Sports Broadcasting Act model "would pose an existential threat to the Green Bay Packers and their existence in Green Bay as we know it."
The Sports Broadcasting Act, passed by Congress in 1961 — the same year the Packers won their first of five championship titles under Vince Lombardi — created an antitrust exemption that allows professional sports leagues to collectively sell their TV broadcast rights and distribute the revenue equally among teams.
Watch: Fans paying attention as Packers warn changes to Sports Broadcasting Act pose existential threat
Marquette University Law School professor Matt Mitten, who has taught sports law for 37 years, explained what the law does.
"What it does is it allows major league professional teams to collectively license, sell their TV broadcast rights through the league, and then the idea is that those revenues will be distributed pro rata," Mitten said.
That shared revenue model has been a financial lifeline for small-market franchises like the Packers, who receive the same share of TV money as large-market teams.
"We probably wouldn't have the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay without this because they get the same share of the TV revenues that the New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, and the big market teams get," Mitten said.
The law is now facing new federal scrutiny amid a rapidly changing media landscape, prompting the Packers to proactively engage Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
Lifelong Packers fan and season ticket holder Gerry Heyrman said he supports keeping the revenue-sharing structure in place.
"I'd like to keep it with the revenue sharing where they all get a piece of the pie," Heyrman said.
Heyrman also voiced frustration over the rising cost of attending and watching NFL games, particularly through streaming services.
"It adds up quite a bit, and if you got to pay for streaming services to watch other games, I don't like, I don't care for that at all," Heyrman said.
On a separate front, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, is introducing a bill called the For the Fans Act, which she says would protect fans from blackouts and guarantee access to their home teams.
"It says if you pay for a premium streaming station, so the streaming service, so you can watch your team, they can't do blackouts!" Baldwin said.
"And then secondly, we're requiring that the leagues and the teams provide a way for their home state fans to watch live and for free," Baldwin said.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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