(The Center Square) – Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill that she touted as stopping sports blackouts and slashing streaming costs but that bill could have the largest impact on the Brewers and Bucks.
Major League Baseball teams play 162 games and the bill requires all of those games to be provided to home state viewers for free.
Main Street Sports Group shut down their regional sports networks due to finances after the final National Basketball Association regular season games this week and the NBA, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League teams are moving their broadcasts elsewhere.
MLB made the move in January with the final nine teams – including the Brewers – leaving FanDuel Sports Network and creating their own networks, something Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told the media would likely cost the team $20 million in revenue this year.
Baldwin’s bill would prevent the Brewers from charging for those games in Wisconsin while those outside the area can get the games along with the MLB package.
The Bucks have not determined who will hold rights to televise their games next season.
The Brewers’ network, Brewers.TV, costs fans in Wisconsin $100 for the season or $20 monthly or they can can get the broadcasts on cable partners Xfinity, Spectrum, DirecTV, Fubo or AT&T U-Verse.
Baldwin’s bill would require the Brewers to provide that service free through either streaming or through over-the-air broadcasts, which would significantly cut into the revenue the Brewers receive for running their own TV network.
The Center Square was unable to obtain a comment on the proposal from the Brewers before publication.
“Rooting for our favorite sports teams brings all walks of life together – but in order for that to happen, families need to actually be able to watch the games,” Baldwin said in a statement. “Gigantic streaming services and big sports leagues have created a complicated and expensive maze of subscriptions that either stop fans from watching their teams altogether or gouge fans to simply watch the teams they love.”
Finances related to NFL games are far different than those for MLB or NBA teams.
But that is being questioned now in the House Judiciary Committee, which is examining the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and the NFL’s ability to pool its TV deal and then split the revenue evenly amongst teams like the Packers, even though they are in the league’s smallest market.
The Packers worry messing with the current law could force teams to once again have their own TV deals, hurting small market teams.I asked the team’s director of public affairs, Aaron Popkey, if that’s realistic.”That is the great unknown…that is the grave concern we have” https://t.co/WusOiu4muw pic.twitter.com/w83Eh7689s— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) April 10, 2026
The Packers wrote to Wisconsin Congressman Scott Fitzgerald, calling changing the model an “existential threat” saying that changing the act would “disrupt competitive bland, threatening the ability of the Packers to meaningfully compete and making it more difficult for fans to watch the Packers play,” CBS Milwaukee’s A.J. Bayatpour reported.
Packers vs. Feds? WI Congressman Scott Fitzgerald applauds the DOJ investigating the Sports Broadcasting Act.The Packers sent him a letter two weeks ago saying “any disruption to the current SBA model…would pose an existential threat to the Green Bay Packers” https://t.co/VMjEtoNWN8 pic.twitter.com/cGGHosIgWq— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) April 10, 2026
Baldwin touted the proposal as a way to simplify payments from fans who purchase league-wide packages such as MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice and NFL Sunday Ticket by preventing blackouts of some games that are then on other streaming services such as Netflix, Prime, Peacock or YouTube TV, calling those single-game blackouts “deceptive practice.”
The NFL entered a five-game long-term broadcast agreement with YouTube TV recently, Front Office Sports reported on Thursday.
YouTube is the current rights holder for NFL Sunday Ticket.
The Brewers joined the Atlanta Braves Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays in beginning their own sports networks and streaming this season.
Those teams have acknowledged that the new model leads to less revenue than their previous regional sports contracts.
The blackout ban would also allow Iowa viewers – who are currently blacked out for Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, Twins and Brewers games – to watch all of those teams through MLB TV.
