Sen. Baldwin introduces bill to stop sports blackouts
U. S. Sen.
Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill to prevent local markets from being blacked out from viewing local sports teams on TV. (Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner) U. S.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a new bill Tuesday aimed at making it simpler and cheaper for people to watch professional sports. Currently, for a fan in Wisconsin to watch every Packers, Brewers and Bucks game in a year it costs more than $1,500 annually to purchase the necessary streaming services and subscriptions — a cost that Baldwin said Wednesday benefits league and streaming service executives, as well as the billionaire owners of sports teams, at the expense of fans.
“This isn’t just a Packers or a Wisconsin issue. This has become an American issue,” Baldwin said during a Wednesday news conference. “What used to be grabbing the remote and hitting a button or two has turned into a maze of streaming subscriptions, unexpected blackouts or a sky high payment.
To top it all off, there is no consistency, and it is flat out confusing for fans. ” She said at the news conference she was introducing the bill without any co-sponsors specifically to start conversations in Congress about the issues in the bill. Baldwin’s For the Fans Act includes two major provisions meant to make it cheaper for people to watch their favorite teams.