S. 5561: Protect America's Game Act

This bill would change federal antitrust law to give special protection to the Army-Navy college football game’s TV broadcast window.

What it would do

• It would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to add a new rule focused on the Army-Navy game.
• It would generally keep antitrust laws from blocking certain joint agreements among colleges and conferences when they pool and sell television rights for college sports.
• But it would make an exception: that antitrust protection would not apply if the agreement allows a postseason college football game involving a Football Bowl Subdivision team to be broadcast during the protected Army-Navy game window.

Protected broadcast window

The bill defines the protected window as starting one hour before the scheduled kickoff of the annual Army-Navy game and ending 30 minutes after the telecast of that game officially ends.

Practical effect

• Broadcasters and sports-rights agreements would be prevented, during that time period, from scheduling or authorizing postseason college football broadcasts that overlap with the Army-Navy game.
• The goal is to preserve exclusive attention and viewership for the Army-Navy game during that time slot.
• The bill does not appear to change the rules for the game itself or for college sports broadcasting generally outside that specific window.

Relevant Companies

• None found