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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, invited earlier this week to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing that will examine whether the Sports Broadcast Act has been used “to harm consumers,” declines the invitation.
And it’s probably a smart choice on the commissioner’s part, given his track record of testifying before Congress.
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Goodell declined an invitation to appear at the June 10 hearing “due to ongoing litigation related to the subject matter of the hearing,” NFL General Counsel Ted Ullyot wrote in a letter Wednesday to the committee’s 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 appeal proceedings.
This all ties into the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which provides a limited antitrust exemption for the collective sale of live broadcast rights. The SBA does not clearly protect cable, satellite, streaming or subscription products, whose increasing cost has drawn consumer complaints and government scrutiny.
According to the Associated Press, Ullyot repeated in his letter the NFL’s well-known narrative that 87 percent of its games will be available live this season and that every game in competing teams’ home markets is broadcast on television.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a press conference after Super Bowl LX at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on February 9, 2026. (Matthieu Huang/Icon Sportswire)
“The NFL’s decision to license a few additional games to widely adopted streaming services simply reflects the fact that these platforms now offer far greater reach than the current pay TV ecosystem and that television remains the foundation of our media distribution,” Ullyot wrote.
The NFL’s reasoning for not presenting Goodell before Congress is legitimate, but the league’s lawyers almost surely took into account Goodell’s past performance before lawmakers. The NFL declined to comment on Goodell’s decision despite multiple requests from OutKick and PK Press Club.
And how has Goodell performed before Congress in the past? “Debacle” was the word one Congressional source used to describe it.
This is obviously someone’s opinion and up for debate, but it’s fair to say that when Goodell appeared at the Capitol, it was not a smooth ride. His appearances have historically served as a platform where lawmakers have aggressively targeted the league’s multibillion-dollar business models, safety protocols and accountability.
Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell look at a football 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, May 5, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Goodell has testified before Congress twice: in October 2009 on the concussion crisis in the league at the time, and in June 2022 on the workplace investigation of Washington’s commanders.
In 2009, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing titled “Legal Issues Related to Head Injuries Related to Football Players” following independent research and media reports linking repeated football-related head trauma to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
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Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) criticized Goodell for the league’s refusal to acknowledge independent medical data. She compared the NFL’s position to that of Big Tobacco executives who denied the link between smoking and lung cancer in the 1990s. Goodell sat silently as she blasted the league’s “blanket denial.”
Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) asked Goodell a simple question: “Is there a medical link between playing football and long-term brain damage?”
Goodell refused to say “yes.” Instead, he deflected, 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 November 30, 2025. (Peter Casey/Imagn Images)
In 2022, the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing titled “Fighting Toxic Workplaces”, investigating decades of widespread sexual harassment, verbal abuse and structural misconduct within the Washington Commanders organization led by former owner Dan Snyder.
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Goodell testified via Zoom but the virtual format did not protect him.
Lawmakers hammered Goodell over the NFL’s refusal to release a report by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s independent investigation into the commanders. Members of Congress and former employees pointed out that the NFL released a more than 200-page public report investigating whether Tom Brady deflated footballs, but chose to keep the findings of a 20-year-old culture of sexual harassment secret, delivering only an “oral report” to Goodell.
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Goodell’s defense — that they withheld the written report to protect victims’ privacy — was dismissed by some committee members as a hollow excuse to protect Snyder.
Goodell tried to portray the NFL as both helpless and an ally who had managed to “hold Snyder accountable,” which obviously didn’t work.
He pointed out that the league fined Snyder $10 million and forced Snyder to divest his day-to-day operations, but he also reiterated: “I do not have the authority to revoke [Snyder]”, which was criticized by legislators.
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