The federal government is concerned that fans of the NFL are being priced out of watching America’s most popular sport. This is a bipartisan issue that escalated in April when it was confirmed that the Department of Justice has opened a formal investigation.

The probe is focused on whether the NFL engaged in alleged anti-competitive practices when securing its television deals, which includes putting some games behind pay-walled streaming platforms. While the nature and scope of the investigation is unknown, reportedly the league’s antitrust exemptions granted through the Sports Broadcasting Act could be under review.

What Is the Sports Broadcasting Act?

Enacted in 1961, the SBA exempts the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL from the nation’s antitrust laws when it comes to telecasting their matches. The law enables the leagues to blackout home games and sets parameters for when they can air matches so as not to compete with high school and college teams.

But its provisions were established at a time when free over-the-air broadcasting was the only means for television watchers to tune into games played across the country. The pay-TV model for sports programming changed the industry when it was introduced, but streaming has taken distribution to new and more costly heights as game discovery has not only gotten more difficult but has also required consumers to pay more than one platform to watch the teams they love.

The Controversy Over NFL Games On Streaming

In response to the investigation into, and criticism about, its streaming strategy, the NFL released the following statement:

“The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry. With over 87% of our games on free, broadcast television, including 100% of games in the markets of the competing teams, the NFL has for decades put our fans front and center in how we distribute our content. The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans.”

However, the league’s position doesn’t take into account fan sentiment about the price tag attached to viewership. According to a 2025 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, over half of America subscribes to streaming services only.

They don’t pay for cable or satellite TV, which means they’re also unlikely to have an antenna that would give them access to the 87% of NFL games that air on broadcast for free. They’re cord-cutters, a population of the television audience that’s expected to increase as streaming continues to dominate the media landscape.

In a 2025 poll, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that sports fans—defined as individuals who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely—are more likely to pay for sports-only streaming platforms, cable and satellite TV, Live TV streaming platforms, general streaming services or all the above than their fellow Americans. It’s a difference of 8% to 38% depending on the pay-TV service.

Why The NFL Is Under An Antitrust Probe

The fragmentation of accessibility to NFL games has been frustrating consumers and impacting their wallets.

Based on some estimates, the FCC has stated that in the 2025 season, NFL fans seeking to watch every game may have paid upward of $1,500 to do so. This is because they aired on 10 different services and 20 regular season games were streaming exclusives as was one playoff match. The games availability in their competing markets doesn’t negate this reality.

The NFL, along with the other major sports leagues, is exempt from antitrust laws concerning its television rights. However, the SBA specifically applies to broadcast availability and the encroachment of streaming platforms into the airing of games has created an undue burden on the consumer according to members of Congress such as Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

Lee publicly advocated for the DOJ to investigate the NFL. Baldwin has proposed the For the Fans Act, which would prohibit blackouts on league owned streaming services and require professional leagues to provide a free option for local fans to watch their teams play.

The Possible Motivation Behind The NFL Investigation

The probe has put the NFL’s deal making under a microscope and could be a signal that the other major leagues may face their own inquiries. This is because free over-the-air broadcasters are facing a tougher market with streamers becoming more financially enticing options as they expand into sports TV, an arena they’d previously stayed out of until a few years ago.

Big ticket, high viewership games such as season openers, holiday matches, and select playoff bouts are on the table when they were once guaranteed to broadcast for free. The new landscape has made America’s most-watched sport pricey even with the implement of streaming bundles.

The demand for sports programming has allowed the NFL to diversify its distribution model, bypassing the major broadcast networks (and by extension their streaming arms) to expand to streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube. But the league holds that it’s meeting consumers where they are.

Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, recently told reporters, “We think broadcast [networks] have been an incredible home. And, now, we also know fans are increasingly spending their time on other platforms as well.”

He continued, “They tune into broadcast for the NFL and that's where we want to be. But we also want to be on these platforms with a limited amount of our games where we know our NFL fans are already as well.”

Schroeder spoke of Netflix specifically, stating: “When we're going onto Netflix, we're going onto a platform that is already massively adopted and a huge number of viewers on that platform already, including a huge number of NFL fans.”

But regardless of the NFL’s perspective, the DOJ’s investigation does call into question whether the professional sports leagues will continue to be allowed to negotiate their television rights in a manner that prices fans out of watching and further fragments their availability across multiple pay-walled platforms.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

BTS, Shakira, and Madonna have been announced as the headliners for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show on Sunday, July 19, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Global Citizen posted a video featuring Sesame Street’s Elmo talking to Coldplay’s Chris Martin about the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) hosting its first-ever halftime show, which would raise money for Global Citizen’s children's education fund. Martin was tasked with curating the show and asked Elmo for help finding headliners.

Elmo seems to have all the contacts – calling up BTS and Shakira in the middle of the video. Elmo suggested Madonna, with Cookie Monster suggesting the South Korean group because of his love for “Butter” – both the song and the product, which is needed to make cookies. BTS members RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook popped up on Elmo’s screen, telling the little red monster and Martin that they’ll be there.

The boys are currently on their BTS World Tour ARIRANG, which began in early April in South Korea. With 82 shows across 34 cities, the group heads to Stanford, Northern California, this weekend before four nights in Las Vegas, then back to Korea for their Busan concerts. They then go on their UK/European and U.S. legs of the tour before finishing up in Asia, expected to end in March of next year.

The call to BTS was made when the members were in Mexico City, around the time they met with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. The group was wearing the exact same clothes they wore while on the National Palace balcony.

Shakira was mentioned by Animal, as she was already set to appear at the World Cup, which will be hosted by North America – the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Her song, “Dai Dai,” has been announced as the official 2026 World Cup song with Burna Boy. This would be Shakira’s second song as part of the World Cup. “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) was the official song for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Colombian megastar starts her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour 2026 dates in June, with July 14 and July 20 in New Jersey and New York, respectively, which is just in time for her to perform at the World Cup final.

Madonna is set to release her album, Confessions II, on July 3. It is a sequel to her 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. She debuted her lead single, “Bring Your Love,” during Weekend 2 of this year’s Coachella in a duet with Sabrina Carpenter.

Global Citizen and Martin are working to raise $100 million to expand access to education and football for youth worldwide. They’ve already raised about $30 million from World Cup match ticket sales, with the organization donating $1 per ticket sold. Last year, Martin and the international education and advocacy organization teamed up for the Club World Cup final halftime show, which had Doja Cat, J Balvin, and Tems.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening ceremonies set to take place in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, each host country will present its own grand performance and celebration. Mexico will kick things off on June 11 (with Latin Music’s finest: Alejandro Fernandez, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Angeles Azules, Mana, and Tyla), followed by Toronto the next day on June 12. Canada features beloved Canadian artists Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Elyanna, Jessie Revez, Michael Buble, Nora Fatehi, Sanjoy, Vegedream, and William Prince. Los Angeles will kick off their opening finale at SoFi Stadium with global stars Anitta, Future, Katy Perry, LISA, Rema, and Tyla as headliners. ​

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Madonna, Shakira and K-pop megastars BTS will headline a Super Bowl-style half-time show at the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, FIFA said Thursday.

Coldplay's Chris Martin is curating the show, which is a first for a football World Cup final but has raised concerns about how long half-time will be.

The biggest-ever World Cup, with 48 teams, kicks off on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced in March last year that there would be "the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA World Cup final".

He did not say at the time who would be performing or how long the show would last.

"This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world," he said on Instagram.

The move mirrors the show held during the final of the 2024 Copa America in Miami, when Colombian star Shakira performed at half-time at the Hard Rock Stadium.

There was also a half-time show at last year's FIFA Club World Cup final, also at MetLife Stadium, which stretched the break in excess of the regulation 15 minutes.

Infantino added that FIFA also planned to "take over" New York's Times Square on the final weekend of the World Cup.

The half-time extravaganza will support FIFA's Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative working to raise $100 million for children worldwide during the World Cup. 

Shakira last week teased the new official song for the World Cup, releasing a brief video of the track filmed at Brazil's iconic Maracana Stadium.

The singer -- who also created the 2010 World Cup anthem "Waka Waka" -- announced the song, titled "Dai Dai" in a post on her Instagram account.

In the 67-second video, Shakira appears on the pitch at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, where she performed in a free concert at the city's Copacabana Beach before two million people.

Holding the "Trionda", the official match ball of the 2026 World Cup, Shakira performed excerpts of the song in English, joined by dancers dressed in the colors of teams including the United States and Colombia.

The song was produced with Nigerian artist Burna Boy and is set for official release on Thursday. The clip, also shared by the FIFA World Cup account, ends with the message: "We're ready!"

Shakira has a long association with the World Cup, performing at the 2006 and 2014 World Cup finals in addition to producing "Waka Waka" for the 2010 tournament.

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