Netflix, Amazon and YouTube Form Streaming Lobby Alliance

Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are joining forces in Washington as the federal government scrutinizes the migration of major sports rights from traditional television to digital platforms. The three companies launched the Streaming Access and Choice Alliance on Monday, according to Axios, which first reported the news. The coalition will be led by TechNet, a trade association representing major technology companies. SACA will push for “technology-neutral policies that encourage innovation in entertainment,” TechNet told Axios, including measures that allow its members to continue investing in live sports and other programming. The group arrives as the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission consider whether the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 should be revisited. The law gives professional sports leagues an antitrust exemption allowing them to pool and collectively sell their television rights. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has questioned whether that exemption is contributing to more games moving exclusively behind streaming paywalls. The NFL, NBA and other major sports properties have expanded their digital distribution deals as technology companies compete more aggressively for live events once largely reserved for broadcast and cable. Each founding member now has a significant stake in that debate. Amazon carries the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” YouTube is home to the league’s Sunday Ticket package and Netflix has expanded its live sports programming to include NFL games. Those investments have made the companies increasingly important partners for sports leagues and increasingly direct competitors to legacy networks. Netflix, Amazon and YouTube parent Google previously belonged to the Internet Association, a broader technology lobbying group that dissolved in 2021 after its members’ interests diverged. Netflix also joined the Motion Picture Association in 2019, reflecting its emergence as a major Hollywood studio. But the MPA represents a wider group of entertainment companies and their broader interests, rather than serving solely as a voice for streaming services. The new organization is separate from the Streaming Innovation Alliance, which launched in 2023 with Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast’s Peacock and other entertainment companies. That group has advocated for broader federal and state policy issues, including efforts by local broadcasters to bring streaming-TV distributors under existing television regulations. The new alliance gives three of the sector’s biggest players a shared lobbying voice as Washington begins treating streaming less like an alternative to television and more like a dominant part of it.