Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / DOJ Comes for the NFL's Streaming Empire | Apr 10, 2026
Transcript
- The DOJ is investigating the NFL's TV deals. The federal government is coming after the shield over streaming subscriptions. I don't know about you, but I've been saying for years that paying for four different apps just to watch football on a Sunday feels like a scam. Turns out the Justice Department agrees with me. Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Alright, let's get into it. The Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into the NFL's television contracts. Specifically, they're looking at whether the league is violating anticompetitive practices by forcing fans to pay for multiple streaming subscriptions just to watch games. And honestly? It's about time somebody said something. Think about what it takes right now to watch every NFL game. You need ESPN or ABC for Monday nights. You need Prime Video for Thursday nights. You need Netflix for the Christmas games. And that's on top of your regular cable or YouTube TV package. The NFL signed an eleven-year, hundred and eleven BILLION dollar media rights deal that runs through twenty thirty-three. That is crazy money. And the whole structure is built on the idea that fans will just keep paying whatever it costs. Senator Mike Lee came out and applauded the probe, pointing out that the league is licensing games to subscription platforms while still enjoying its antitrust exemption. That exemption has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill for a while now, but this is the first time we've seen actual DOJ action behind it. Look, I'm not naive — the NFL prints money and they've got an army of lawyers. But this investigation could reshape how we watch football for the next decade. Even if it doesn't blow up the current deals, it puts pressure on the league to keep more games on free, over-the-air television. Which is all fans have been asking for. Just let us watch the games without needing a spreadsheet to figure out which app to open. Alright, let's get to the scores. The Knicks beat the Celtics one twelve to one oh six at the Garden last night, and Josh Hart was the guy. Twenty-six points on ten of fifteen shooting, five of seven from three. Hart was unconscious. Jalen Brunson added twenty-five and ten assists, and KAT chipped in sixteen and twelve boards. On the Boston side, Jayson Tatum had twenty-four, thirteen, and eight, but he shot seven of twenty-two from the field and two of ten from deep. And here's the storyline — that was Tatum's first game back at MSG since he ruptured his Achilles there in last year's playoffs. You could tell he was pressing. The Celtics also didn't have Jaylen Brown, who sat with left Achilles tendinitis. Baylor Scheierman tried to pick up the slack, going six of seven from three for twenty points, but it wasn't enough. The Knicks are now fifty-two and twenty-eight, three games back of Boston for the two seed with two games left. Probably not enough time to catch them, but the Knicks are playing with serious confidence heading into the postseason. Over in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche clinched the Presidents' Trophy with a 3-1 win over Calgary. Nathan MacKinnon scored his fifty-second goal of the season — a career high — into an empty net and added two assists. MacKinnon has been on another level all year. That team is terrifying. In the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Ottawa Senators crushed the Panthers 5-1. Fabian Zetterlund scored twice, and Ottawa's now won three straight. They're sitting three points ahead of the Islanders for the second wild card. The Senators have been grinding all season and they're right there. Linus Ullmark made twenty-one saves and looked solid. That's a team nobody wants to see in round one. Quick hit on the NBA playoff picture — with the regular season ending Sunday, here's where we stand. In the East, it's looking like Detroit as the one seed, Boston two, Knicks three, Cleveland four. In the West, OKC on top, San Antonio at two, Denver three, and the Lakers sitting at four with a projected first-round matchup against Houston. Oh, and Steph Curry sat out Thursday's game against the Lakers, which means he and LeBron won't face each other during the regular season this year. That feels like the end of something, doesn't it? Two guys who've defined this era, and we didn't even get one head-to-head this season. One more NFL note — the draft is two weeks away. The league announced sixteen prospects will attend in Pittsburgh. Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman winner out of Indiana, won't be there, which is interesting since he's expected to go number one to the Raiders. Also, Dexter Lawrence has officially requested a trade from the Giants. The price tag being floated is similar to what the Cowboys sent the Jets for Quinnen Williams — a future first-rounder plus more. Lawrence is a game-wrecker, so somebody's gonna pay up. Here's my Hangover Take. I wanna talk about Deshaun Watson. He's back at voluntary workouts in Cleveland. He's been medically cleared. And I just — I don't see how this works. The guy ruptured his Achilles in week seven of twenty twenty-four. Then he re-ruptured it during recovery, missed all of last season. That's a year and a half without playing football for a quarterback who wasn't exactly lighting it up before the injury. Todd Monken is the new head coach there, and I genuinely feel bad for him. Because he's either gonna have to build an offense around a thirty-one-year-old coming off back-to-back Achilles tears, or he's gonna have to be the guy who benches the most expensive quarterback in franchise history. There's no good option. Cleveland, man. They just can't catch a break. That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.