Sports & Competition
Thu, December 4, 2025
Streaming Wars Expand to Sports Media, Spark Antitrust Concerns
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Published in Sports and Competition on Thursday, December 4th 2025 at 10:19 GMT by Bloomberg Law News- 🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication
- 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source
Streaming Wars Expand to Sports Media, Spark Antitrust Concerns
Bloomberg Law’s recent piece, “Streaming Wars Expand to Sports Media, Spark Antitrust Concerns,” dives deep into a growing trend that is reshaping how fans consume live sports and raising fresh regulatory questions. While the entertainment‑industry showdown over subscription‑based services has been well‑documented for several years, the new frontier involves the high‑stakes world of professional and collegiate sports rights. The article traces the trajectory from the first digital‑only broadcasts to today’s complex, multi‑platform deals, and outlines why regulators, law firms, and competitors are all watching the unfolding drama with increasing alarm.
1. The Shift from Linear TV to Streaming
For decades, the sports‑broadcasting model hinged on a handful of terrestrial and cable networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and the like—bargaining with leagues to secure annual contracts that spanned years or even decades. Those contracts came with hefty price tags, but they also delivered predictable revenue streams for the networks and, in turn, guaranteed visibility for the leagues.
The last decade saw the emergence of over‑the‑top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+, each vying for a slice of that lucrative audience. The article notes how the 2022–2023 sports season marked the first time a major league (the NFL) agreed to an exclusive streaming partnership with a non‑traditional network (Amazon Prime Video). In that deal, Amazon gained the right to stream live regular‑season games on its Prime Video app, with a significant portion of the NFL’s revenue earmarked for the platform. The article frames this as a “break‑the‑mold” moment, underscoring that a major league was now placing its most valuable content on a platform that did not own the traditional broadcast network.
2. Bundling, Exclusivity, and Market Power
The Bloomberg Law piece carefully dissects the mechanics of these new deals. One key feature is bundling—the practice of combining live sports content with other services, such as ad‑free streaming, premium channels, or exclusive fan‑centric features. The article explains that bundling can create a “lock‑in” effect, forcing consumers to pay for a wide array of content they may not need, and thereby raising barriers to entry for rival platforms.
Another focus is exclusivity clauses. These contracts typically grant a streaming platform exclusive rights for a defined period, preventing other services from offering the same content. While exclusivity is common in television contracts, the article notes the heightened impact when the exclusivity extends across all digital touchpoints—web, mobile, and connected TV—within a single service. Such sweeping exclusivity can diminish the competitive landscape for smaller OTT players and for traditional broadcasters that may lose a significant portion of their audience to a digital‑only service.
3. Antitrust Eyes on the Deal
Because the stakes are high, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are now keeping a closer watch on these arrangements. The Bloomberg Law article draws parallels to past antitrust scrutiny of similar deals, such as the 2019 United States v. Disney case over the company’s ESPN+ bundling and the 2021 United States v. Comcast investigation into cable bundling. The FTC has also been probing the broader sports‑broadcasting ecosystem, particularly around how large streaming platforms may use their data and user base to suppress competition.
The article outlines the arguments from both sides: Advocates for the deals argue that they provide fans with greater flexibility, lower costs (especially when bundled with other services), and better access to high‑quality streams. Opponents caution that these arrangements may facilitate “toll‑booth” behavior, where the league or the streaming platform can use exclusive rights to artificially inflate subscription prices. They also point out that the concentration of sports content in a handful of powerful platforms could lead to a “winner‑takes‑most” scenario that leaves smaller media players scrambling to survive.
4. Implications for the Industry
Bloomberg Law emphasizes that the implications stretch beyond the immediate players. The article notes:
- Competitive dynamics: Smaller streaming services and emerging platforms might be forced to exit or pivot to niche markets, as the exclusive rights to high‑profile events become locked up.
- Consumer choice: While bundling can offer convenience, it may also compel consumers to subscribe to services they would otherwise not need, thereby eroding the “pay‑per‑view” model that had kept the market competitive.
- Regulatory precedent: A potential FTC or DOJ enforcement action against one of the major streaming‑sports deals could set a broader precedent for how digital streaming rights are treated under antitrust law.
5. Looking Ahead
The piece concludes with a look at future trends and possible regulatory actions. Bloomberg Law cites analysts who predict that multi‑platform rights packages—those that combine linear, digital, and mobile rights—will become the norm. However, if antitrust scrutiny intensifies, companies may begin negotiating more “non‑exclusive” or “performance‑based” agreements to mitigate legal risk.
Additionally, the article links to a number of relevant resources for readers who want deeper dives into specific issues:
- The FTC’s “Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division” website for updates on sports‑broadcasting investigations.
- A recent academic paper that models the economic impact of streaming exclusivity on consumer surplus.
- Bloomberg’s own series of articles on the evolution of sports media rights, which provide historical context for the current wave of streaming deals.
Bottom Line
Bloomberg Law’s article offers a comprehensive overview of how the streaming wars have migrated from movie and series distribution into the sports media arena and why this shift is a flashpoint for antitrust regulators. By unpacking the mechanics of bundling, exclusivity, and market concentration, the piece serves as a crucial resource for legal practitioners, broadcasters, and investors navigating a landscape that is rapidly moving away from traditional linear TV to a fragmented, digital‑first ecosystem. As the industry continues to evolve, the article underscores that the next major legal battle may very well be fought not just in courtrooms, but over the very way fans watch their favorite teams play.
Read the Full Bloomberg Law News Article at:
[ https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/streaming-wars-expand-to-sports-media-spark-antitrust-concerns ]
