Stop Sports Blackouts Act of 2025
The Stop Sports Blackouts Act of 2025 would add a new provision (Section 723) to the Communications Act, requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue regulations within 90 days that mandate rebates to subscribers when a video programming service is temporarily denied due to a covered negotiation. Specifically, if a provider—such as a cable operator or direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service—experiences a blackout caused by negotiations over retransmission consent or carriage of non-broadcast video programming, the provider must give the subscriber a rebate for the blackout period. The regulations would also establish how large those rebates should be. In short, the bill aims to financially compensate consumers for certain service interruptions tied to carriage disputes, with the FCC setting the rules and rebate amounts.
Key Points
- 1Purpose: Require rebates to subscribers during periods when access to contracted video programming is denied due to a covered negotiation, aligning incentives to limit or compensate for blackouts (including sports programming).
- 2FCC regulatory deadline: The FCC must promulgate the required regulations within 90 days after enactment, including how rebates are calculated or determined.
- 3Covered negotiations: Includes negotiations about retransmission consent for broadcast stations (under section 325(b)) and carriage of video programming from entities that are not broadcast stations.
- 4Providers covered: Cable operators (as defined in section 602) and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers (as defined in section 335(b)(5)).
- 5Definitions used:
- 6- Television broadcast station: Defined as in section 325(b)(7).
- 7- Video programming: Defined as in section 602.
- 8- The term “covered negotiation” refers to the specified types of programming carriage discussions.
- 9Legal addition: Creates a new Section 723 within Title VII of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
- 10Financial mechanism: The exact rebate amount is to be determined by FCC regulations; the bill directs a rebates framework but not a fixed dollar amount in the statute itself.
- 11Scope of impact: The bill targets access denial during negotiated carriage periods, with a focus on sports and other programming subject to blackouts.