There
are
two
major
themes
from
the
past
couple
months
that
you
need
to
understand
about
this
Department
of
Justice.
First,
the
administration
forced
out
its
own
antitrust
chief
and
this
week
we
learned
that
the
senior
litigators
running
the
government’s
biggest
antitrust
matters
are
also
bolting
the
Department
of
Justice
following
the
surprise
settlement
with
Ticketmaster.
The
administration
used
the
threat
of
arbitrary
enforcement
to
shunt
a
media
consolidation
deal
toward
a
deep-pocketed
donor.
And
we
learned
that
one
right-wing
lawyer
has
built
a
reputation
for
successfully
leaning
on
the
administration
to
approve
suspect
deals
for
his
clients.
Second,
after
Pam
Bondi
got
fired,
her
interim
replacement
Todd
Blanche
held
a
press
conference
where
he
said
that
Donald
Trump
has
the
“right”
to
influence
DOJ
investigations.
So,
given
that
this
DOJ
doesn’t
give
a
shit
about
faithfully
enforcing
antitrust
law,
what
are
we
to
make
of
today’s
Wall
Street
Journal
exclusive
report
that
the
Justice
Department
has
opened
an
investigation
into
the
National
Football
League
over
potential
anticompetitive
practices?
Other
than
this
being
the
dementia-fueled
fulfillment
of
Trump’s
revenge
arc
against
the
NFL
for
never
letting
him
own
a
team
and
publicly
humiliating
him
in
an
antitrust
trial
40
years
ago.
The
DOJ
is
reportedly
examining
whether
the
NFL’s
media
rights
deals
—
which
now
spread
games
across
broadcast
networks,
cable
channels,
and
streaming
platforms
—
are
harming
consumers
by
forcing
fans
to
subscribe
to
an
ever-expanding
patchwork
of
services
just
to
watch
their
team
play.
The
Sports
Broadcasting
Act
of
1961
granted
the
NFL
a
limited
antitrust
exemption
so
that
teams
could
collectively
negotiate
TV
deals.
Back
then,
that
meant
games
on
free
broadcast
television.
Now
it
means
forking
over
cable
and
streaming
subscription
fees.
Senator
Mike
Lee
has
questioned
whether
the
statutory
exemption
should
still
apply
when
games
end
up
behind
paywalls,
and
FCC
Chair
Brendan
Carr
opened
a
public
comment
period
in
February
examining
how
the
streaming
migration
has
affected
consumers.
The
answer
is
“yes,
the
exemption
still
applies
until
Congress
does
something
about
it.”
Apparently
textualism
isn’t
Lee’s
strong
suit.
But
congressional
action
would
require
taking
responsibility
for
something,
which
is
anathema
to
a
body
that
won’t
even
vote
to
approve
Trump’s
attack
on
Iran,
and
so
lawmakers
like
Lee
would
prefer
to
sit
back
and
beg
the
executive
branch
to
do
what
he
and
his
colleagues
lack
the
courage
to.
Is
the
NFL
a
monopoly?
Sure.
In
fact
it’s
been
adjudicated
as
one!
When
Donald
Trump’s
bid
to
buy
the
Baltimore
Colts
was
rejected
in
1981,
he
bought
the
New
Jersey
Generals
of
the
upstart
USFL.
But
Trump
didn’t
care
about
building
a
contender,
he
just
wanted
a
litigation
vehicle.
In
1986,
Trump
convinced
the
other
owners
to
abandon
their
successful
spring
schedule
and
go
head-to-head
with
the
NFL
in
the
fall,
a
move
that
was
intended
to
fail
and
set
up
a
$1.69
billion
antitrust
suit.
Who
cooked
up
this
doomed
legal
gambit?
Roy
Cohn.
It
was
always
Roy
fucking
Cohn.
The
jury
found
the
NFL
was
indeed
an
illegal
monopoly,
but
awarded
the
USFL…
one
dollar.
Trebled
under
antitrust
law,
the
USFL
collected
a
grand
total
of
$3.
With
interest,
the
NFL
eventually
paid
$3.76.
The
USFL
folded
days
later.
If
you
wanted
a
preview
of
Trump
the
MASTER
STRATEGIST
in
Iran,
you
needn’t
look
much
further
than
the
time
he
launched
an
expensive
assault
to
shake
up
a
steady
equilibrium,
declared
victory,
and
ended
up
with
3
bucks
for
his
trouble.
Trump
tried
to
get
into
the
NFL
a
couple
times
since
then.
He
tried
to
buy
the
New
England
Patriots
in
1988
and
lost
out
on
the
Buffalo
Bills
in
2014.
Former
Commissioner
Pete
Rozelle
reportedly
told
Trump
to
his
face
that
he
would
never
be
allowed
to
own
a
franchise.
So
four
decades
later,
Trump
is
the
president
of
the
United
States
and
noticeably
sundowning.
Trump
reportedly
told
ESPN’s
Stephen
A.
Smith
that
if
the
league
screwed
him
on
his
2014
attempt
to
buy
the
Buffalo
Bills
that
he’d
“run
for
president”
and
“get
them
all
back.”
It’s
not
really
a
conspiracy
theory
when
they’ve
been
telling
reporters
about
it
for
over
a
decade.
Speaking
of
reporters,
it
might
not
be
a
coincidence
that
the
Wall
Street
Journal
—
owned
by
Rupert
Murdoch,
who
also
owns
Fox,
which
is
currently
in
a
leverage
war
with
the
NFL
over
broadcast
rights
fees
—
got
an
exclusive.
Fox
has
been
fairly
openly
lobbying
the
FCC
and
Congress
to
strip
the
NFL’s
antitrust
exemption
so
the
league
can’t
squeeze
networks
for
more
money.
What
a
coincidence
that
Murdoch’s
newspaper
had
an
inside
line
on
the
DOJ
deciding
to
heed
Murdoch’s
plea.
The
NFL
is
absolutely
using
its
power
to
squeeze
the
media
and
the
media
is
passing
that
on
to
the
consumer.
But
this
administration
just
let
Ticketmaster’s
monopoly
walk
and
put
themselves
behind
a
consumer
crushing
media
merger.
They
don’t
care
about
sports
fans
getting
gouged.
This
is
Trump’s
revenge
tour
for
the
league
humiliating
him
and
permanently
barring
him
from
the
cool
kids’
table.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.