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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, invited earlier this week to testify before the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing that will examine whether the Sports Broadcasting Act has been used “to harm consumers,” declines the invitation.
And that’s probably a wise decision on the commissioner’s part given his history of testifying before Congress.
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Goodell declined the invitation to appear at the June 10 hearing “due to ongoing litigation related to the subject of the hearing,” NFL general counsel Ted Ullyot wrote in a letter Wednesday to committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
The ongoing litigation Ullyot was referring to is likely the NFL’s Sunday Ticket antitrust case, which remains in post-trial and appellate proceedings.
This is all tied to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which provides a limited antitrust exemption for the collective sale of over-the-air broadcasting rights. The SBA does not clearly protect cable, satellite, streaming or subscription products, the rising cost of which has sparked consumer complaints and government scrutiny.
According to the Associated Press, Ullyot repeated in his letter the NFL’s well-told narrative that 87 percent of its games will be available over-the-air this season, and that all games in competing teams’ home markets will be broadcast on television.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a press conference following Super Bowl LX at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, on February 9, 2026. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
“The NFL’s decision to license a few more games to widely adopted streaming services is simply a reflection that those platforms now offer significantly greater reach than the current pay-TV ecosystem and that broadcast TV remains the foundation of our media distribution,” Ullyot wrote.
The NFL’s stated reasoning for not presenting Goodell before Congress is legitimate, but the league’s lawyers almost certainly took Goodell’s past performances before lawmakers into account. The NFL declined to comment on Goodell’s decision despite multiple requests from OutKick and Pak Gazette.
And how has Goodell fared before Congress in the past? “Debacle” was the word a congressional source used to describe it.
Obviously, that’s someone’s opinion that’s up for debate, but it’s fair to say that when Goodell showed up on Capitol Hill, it wasn’t an easy ride. His appearances have historically served as platforms where lawmakers aggressively attacked the league’s multibillion-dollar business models, safety protocols and accountability.
Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell watch as a football is presented to President Donald Trump during an event announcing the 2027 NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall in the Oval Office of the White House on May 5, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Goodell has testified before Congress on two previous occasions: in October 2009 about the league’s concussion crisis at the time, and in June 2022 about the Washington Commanders workplace investigation.
In 2009, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing titled “Legal Issues Related to Soccer Ball Head Injuries” following independent research and media reports linking repeated football head trauma to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
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Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) sharply criticized Goodell for the league’s refusal to acknowledge independent medical data. She compared the NFL’s stance to that of Big Tobacco executives who denied the link between smoking and lung cancer in the 1990s. Goodell sat silently as she criticized the league’s “blanket denial.”
Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) pressed Goodell with a simple question: “Is there a medical link between playing football and long-term brain damage?”
Goodell refused to say “yes.” Instead, he deflected it by saying, “I’m not a medical expert.”
Washington Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks celebrates a touchdown against the Denver Broncos with running back Jeremy McNichols and wide receiver Terry McLaurin in the third quarter at Northwest Stadium on Nov. 30, 2025. (Peter Casey/Image Images)
In 2022, the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing called “Tackling toxic workplaces” investigating decades of rampant sexual harassment, verbal abuse and structural misconduct within the Washington Commanders organization under former owner Dan Snyder.
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Goodell testified via Zoom but the virtual format did not protect him.
Lawmakers criticized Goodell for the NFL’s refusal to release a report written by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s independent investigation into the Commanders. Members of Congress and former employees noted that the NFL released a more than 200-page public report when investigating whether Tom Brady deflated footballs, but chose to keep the findings of a 20-year culture of sexual harassment secret, providing only an “oral report” to Goodell.
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Goodell’s defense (that they withheld the written report to protect the victims’ privacy) was dismissed by some committee members as a hollow excuse to protect Snyder.
Goodell attempted to portray the NFL as powerless and as an ally that had managed to “hold Snyder accountable,” which obviously didn’t work.
He noted that the league imposed a $10 million fine and forced Snyder to hand over day-to-day operations, but also repeated: “I don’t have the authority to eliminate [Snyder]”, which was criticized by legislators.
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