Amazon Prime Video executives are increasingly confident they will gain exclusive rights to the Super Bowl soon, but FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr doesn’t seem to be a fan.
In a social media post on X, Carr highlighted a recent column from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic in which an Amazon executive expressed confidence that the streaming service would gain rights to the Super Bowl “in the fullness of time.”
Carr asked followers, “What do you think?”
It’s no secret where Carr stands on the NFL. The FCC Commissioner has spent months arguing that the NFL moving games to paid streaming services violates the spirit of the league’s antitrust exemption held as a result of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner argued that Carr’s interest in the NFL could stem from the relationship between media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose company controls Fox, Larry Ellison, whose family has a controlling interest in CBS, and President Donald Trump. Fox and CBS are both major over-the-air networks.
The Department of Justice is now reportedly investigating whether the NFL has violated its antitrust exemption, a position Carr has advocated for months.
But even if the antitrust exemption is not modified, political pressure could help CBS and Fox in negotiations, argues Awful Announcing’s Sam Neuman. A new report says that the NFL is looking to sell a new five-game package and that streamers Netflix and YouTube are suitors, along with Fox. The NFL is consistently the most-watched property on television, and networks benefit significantly from five more exclusive games.
With a looming threat from the Department of Justice investigation, the NFL may be more inclined to reach an agreement with Fox as its traditional broadcast partner.
No matter the political interests at play, a move by Carr to restrict fragmentation seems likely to be popular. As of publication, Carr’s X post has over 500 replies, and many expressed anger at increased fragmentation.
The NFL’s main media rights deals are currently locked until 2029 (2030 for ESPN). That hasn’t stopped the NFL from further fragmenting its media rights, with new agreements with YouTube and Netflix reached since the contracts were signed in 2021.
As of 2026, exclusive NFL games air on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Netflix, YouTube, Peacock, ESPN, and NFL Network.
About Manny Soloway
Manny Soloway is a Iowa based writer focusing on TV ratings. He is also the founder of the TV Media Blog substack.