If there were a 'Top 10 Things You Shouldn't Do As A Wisconsin Congressman" list, posing an existential threat to the Green Bay Packers would rank in the top five, at least. Yet this is where one Wisconsin Congressman has decided to draw a line in the sand.
Representative Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin's Fifth Congressional District is one of the most prominent politicians in questioning the current structure and application of the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA), which was signed into law by John F. Kennedy in 1961. The law essentially creates a pathway for sports leagues to get around antitrust laws when negotiating national broadcast packages. Without that framework, teams would have to negotiate television rights individually, putting small-market franchises like the Green Bay Packers at a significant disadvantage compared to teams in massive media markets.
Rep. Fitzgerald, who is the chairman of a House subcommittee reviewing the SBA, recently downplayed the Packers' concerns over how this would disproportionately hurt Green Bay and could force the team to move out of its city entirely, uprooting a Wisconsin sports tradition that wouldn't be able to survive or compete in the same way without parameters allowed by the SBA.
Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, the team released the following scathing statement in response to Rep. Fitzgerald's recent comments:
"Packers fans everywhere should be deeply concerned that Rep. Fitzgerald admitted to giving 'zero' consideration to keeping the Packers in Green Bay as he explores upending the 65-year-old Sports Broadcasting Act. Fans should be offended that Fitzgerald then went further, saying our concerns were 'laughable.' What is laughable is that a congressman from Wisconsin is leading this charge. Why threaten the team his community overwhelmingly cherishes and its ability to compete on a level playing field?
“The tremendously successful model of pooling media rights and sharing revenue equally amongst teams has allowed the Packers to survive and thrive in the smallest media market in professional sports. This model is as foundational to the Packers’ existence as the very bricks in Lambeau Field. It is careless and unwise to rearrange the bricks of a foundation which has stood strong for over half a century.”
The Green Bay Packers wouldn't slam a Wisconsin Congressman without good reason.
This isn't about who you voted for or what side of the political aisle you stand on. It's about the future of the Green Bay Packers and whether this beloved franchise could stand on its own two legs without the collective bargaining and financial flexibility afforded by the SBA.
Green Bay is home to the only publicly owned major professional sports franchise in the United States of America, and that's a big part of the appeal. It's a community-driven, community-oriented organization where fans don't just feel invested in the game — they are invested in it.
With respect to the Packers' concerns, Rep. Fitzgerald's main issues with the Sports Broadcasting Act actually do track to the common fan. He fears that the infusion of streaming is forcing consumers to subscribe to too many services, with games now broadcast across Amazon Prime, Netflix, Peacock, NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube TV, Fubo, and the list goes on.
But they don't need to dismantle the safety blanket the U.S. government created for communities like Green Bay to address that issue. The SBA could be amended rather than repealed altogether, addressing the influx of streaming platforms and subscription services without threatening the statutes that help teams like the Packers stay in Green Bay.
This is an example of someone needing to work smarter, not harder. Rep. Fitzgerald could've come right out and said something along the lines of, 'I want to make sure the people of Wisconsin have access to watch games without having to pay an arm and a leg to do it, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the sanctity of the Green Bay Packers.'
But instead, he's laughing off the Packers' concern on television and moving along his merry way. That clearly didn't sit well with the Green Bay organization, and if social media is any indication, it's not sitting well with most of the state either.
There are still plenty more steps to go through in this process, but this, unfortunately, isn't the end of the story. And every step of the way, the Green Bay Packers will fight to uphold their legacy.
Rightfully so.
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