Clay Travis called on broadcasters to win back sports’ biggest events at NAB Show New York. Otherwise, he warned, the average fan could soon face paywalls for everything.
What We Know: Travis spoke Wednesday on a panel that NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt moderated. Additionally, he has spent months pressing Congress on the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. In June, he testified that the NFL’s streaming-exclusive games undercut the law’s intent. Meanwhile, NAB wants lawmakers to confirm the act covers only free, over-the-air broadcasting. In his remarks, Travis argues that fans are paying too much for the escape that sports provide. Which in turn, should motivate broadcasters to push for more games on broadcast television.
What They Said: Clay Travis feels too many people are ignoring the fact that all sports could go behind paywalls: “Get more big signature events on broadcast television. Over the last decade plus, we have lost a ton of them. There have been a lot of people asleep at the wheel, allowing the average sports fan to be gouged by the average sports league. I think about this all the time because eventually they’ll put everything behind a paywall if they can.”
Clay Travis pleads for the NAB to push for more big sports events on broadcast television: “We have to push back, and have more big signature events on major broadcast networks. We need to have the ability for so many people to have access for free on broadcast television.”
Clay Travis believes the sports fan is asked to pay for too much: “In this day and age, when so many people are stretched so thin. Asking somebody to have to pay for all of this different additional streaming costs to be able to watch the U.S. men’s soccer team, or your favorite college basketball team in the NCAA tournament, or your favorite NFL or college football team, I just think we need to push back in an aggressive way.”
What Remains Unclear: It remains unclear whether Congress will update the Sports Broadcasting Act for streaming. Likewise, it is not clear how leagues would answer new limits. However, Travis has called the frustration over cost and access bipartisan.
What It Means: For broadcasters, marquee events fund the local programming communities depend on. Ultimately, Travis argues fans stretched thin shouldn’t need a stack of subscriptions. Whether or not leagues hear his messaging is still up for debate. The NFL challenges that all their games are available on free over-the-air television in local markets of the competing teams. However, MLB, NBA, and the NHL have challenges with regional sports networks. This debate will likely continue into the next administration and beyond as technology continues to evolve fan behavior.
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