By JOE REEDY

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services.

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FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the request for comment Wednesday. The comment period runs through March 27 and replies to the comments are due April 13.

“For decades, Americans enjoyed turning on their TV & quickly finding the game they wanted to see. Yet watching your favorite team play isn’t as easy these day. Many games are still on broadcast, but an increasing number are on a range of different online platforms,” Carr posted. “Today, the FCC asks for comment on sports rights and broadcasting. We want to understand the marketplace today, the experience of consumers, and how the changes impact the ability of broadcast TV stations to continue delivering local news, information, and other programming.”

Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted for coordinating their broadcast television rights.

The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast television. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other mediums, including cable, satellite and streaming.

The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games, which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the leagues. The NFL ended local TV blackouts, which applied to games within 75 miles of a team’s market if they did not sell out 72 hours before kickoff, after the 2014 season.

The public notice Wednesday said NFL games aired on “10 different services, which, according to some estimates, could cost a consumer over $1,500 to watch all games.”

The NFL aired games last season on CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.

Forbes estimated the cost of watching every NFL game via streaming last season at $765.

The NFL also offers most of its games on broadcast television, including options for all local games on cable or streaming.

“The NFL has the most accessible, fan-friendly distribution model across all of sports and entertainment, with over 87% of our games shown on free broadcast television in addition to numerous, popular digital platforms,” the league said in a statement to AP.

All four of the major North American professional sports leagues have deals with streaming platforms.

The NBA is in the first season of an 11-year deal where games on Monday nights are shown on Peacock, while Amazon Prime Video also has games, mostly on Thursday and Friday nights.

MLB agreed to three-year deals with Netflix and Peacock that begin this season.

The NHL is in the fifth season of its seven-year rights deal where some games appear on ESPN+ and Hulu.

The FCC is asking the public to answer a wide range of questions, including:

With respect to the sports media marketplace, how have recent developments in the marketplace affected the ability of broadcasters to obtain media rights to sports programming?
How have changes in the marketplace affected viewers’ ability to watch nationally televised live sports, as well as their local team(s), on broadcast TV?
How prevalent are sports media rights deals between local TV broadcasters and local sports teams and what are their terms and conditions?
How have changes in the marketplace impacted costs to consumers?

The last two questions are becoming increasingly significant due to the demise of regional sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group was the largest owner of regional sports networks when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2023.

At the time of the filing, Diamond operated 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner and had the rights to 42 professional teams (14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL).

The networks emerged from bankruptcy last March under Main Street Sports Group, with their networks rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network. However, they are on the verge of insolvency and could go out of business if a new majority owner or investors are not found.

MLB will handle production and distribution for 15 of its 30 teams this season after Main Street Sports Group failed to make scheduled rights payments to seven teams.

Main Street currently has 15 owned-and-operated networks under the FanDuel banner, with rights to 20 pro teams: 13 NBA and seven NHL. It has committed to airing games for its remaining teams through the end of the regular season but is likely to go out of business after that.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

By DAVE COLLINS

Newly released police video shows former WWE CEO Vince McMahon’s high-speed car crash in Connecticut last summer and reveals that a state trooper was trying to catch up to him to pull him over at the time.

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McMahon, now 80, was driving his 2024 Bentley Continental GT on the Merritt Parkway in Westport on July 24 — coincidentally, the same day that WWE legend Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida. State police said the Bentley, which can cost over $300,000, was going 100 mph or more.

“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” state police Detective Maxwell Robins asks McMahon after the crash, according to police bodycam video. McMahon replies, “I got my granddaughter’s birthday” and explains he was on his way to see her.

Robins’ dashcam video shows McMahon driving northbound in the right lane when he approaches a BMW in the same lane, appears to hit the brakes and swerves into the left lane at the last second. The Bentley clipped the rear of the other car before smashing into the left lane guardrail and careening back onto the highway, creating a cloud of dirt and car parts. McMahon then stops in the right shoulder.

No one was seriously injured in the crash, police said. Besides damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt.

McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. A state judge in October allowed McMahon to enter a pretrial probation program that will result in the charges being erased from his record next October if he successfully completes the program. He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution.

In an image taken from Connecticut State Police police dashcam video, Vince McMahon’s car, center left, collides with another car after on July 24, 2025, in Westport, Conn. (Connecticut State Police via AP)

State police said Robins was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape the trooper.

Police video shows Robins telling McMahon about his efforts to catch up to McMahon. “I’m trying to catch up to you and you keep taking off,” Robins says. “No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon says.

An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.

The Associated Press obtained the videos Wednesday through a public records request. They were first obtained by The Sun newspaper.

Police body cameras recorded troopers’ interactions with McMahon on the side of the highway.

Robins tells McMahon that he doesn’t understand why McMahon didn’t change lanes sooner to avoid the crash and asks whether he was looking at his phone. McMahon denies looking at his phone and adds that he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.

McMahon later gives Robins his car registration and curses at himself, the video shows. After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”

In an image taken from Connecticut State Police police dashcam video, Vince McMahon’s car, left, strikes the median after colliding with another car after on July 24, 2025, in Westport, Conn. (Connecticut State Police via AP)

The videos also show McMahon talking to the driver whose car he rear-ended. Barbara Doran, of New York City, told the AP last summer that McMahon expressed his concern for her and was glad she was OK. She said she was heading to a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard at the time of the crash.

After McMahon was given the traffic summons, he shook hands with Robins and another trooper and they wished him well.

McMahon’s lawyer, Mark Sherman, said the crash was just an accident.

“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.

USA Hockey had a good couple of weeks at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy. Both the men’s and women’s teams won overtime games against archrival Canada to win gold medals, the first time each team had won gold in the same Games.

The respect between the teams there was mutual, the Minnesota Frost’s Olympians said Wednesday as the team reconvened to finish the PWHL season. The U.S. men and women attended one another’s games, and the teams shared a medical room in the Olympic Village.

United States’ Kelly Pannek (12) celebrates after a women’s ice hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

“I didn’t meet a single one of them who wasn’t very kind and asking us how we’re doing, how the Games were going,” Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme said Tuesday after a practice at TRIA Rink. “They were watching and supporting, so it was really cool to meet them.”

“We did feel their respect,” former Gopher and two-time Olympian Grace Zumwinkle said. “And having been in the Village as well was a good experience.”

That doesn’t mean they appreciated the men’s team laughing at a joke by President Donald Trump that minimized the women’s achievement.

Not long after the U.S. men beat Canada on Jack Hughes’ overtime goal on Sunday, the president spoke to the team via cell phone and invited the team to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

After the team — still celebrating in the locker room — eagerly accepted the invitation, the president added, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.”

Most of the men’s team laughed.

“I think the video is what it is,” three-time Olympian and former Gopher Kelly Pannek said Wednesday. “You’d have to ask them about their feelings on it, but I think there’s also elements to it, with the phone call specifically, (that) is not that surprising, to be frank. So I don’t know why we expect differently.”

The women’s team officially declined the president’s invitation to the State of the Union on Monday.

Curl-Salemme and former Gophers center Taylor Heise said several U.S. men’s players have reached out to the women’s team collectively and the players individually to apologize for their behavior captured by the video.

“(Was) that the perfect response? Is it an appropriate comment or joke to make? No, I don’t think so,” Curl said. “I just go back to the way they treated us, and the support they gave us.

“They were happy as anyone to see us succeed, and the same for us with them. So that’s what I’m focusing more on.”

With PWHL action resuming this weekend — the Frost are at Montreal on Sunday afternoon — players are hoping the focus can shift to the fact that USA Hockey swept the hockey tournaments with undefeated records.

It was the third gold medal for each team. The women won it all in 1998, 2018 and 2026.

“It really was such a special feeling being there, and even being able to spend some time with them after their win, and the respect they were showing us,” Pannek said.

Said Zumwinkle: “It’s the first time in history that’s happened, and it’s super exciting to take part in that.”

“But I think it goes so much further than just a gold medal,” she added. “We see the grassroots, and we see 1980 and what the Miracle on Ice did for so many younger people, and I think the women’s team and the men’s team, we can continue to do that for generations to come.”

Minnesota Frost wing Grace Zumwinkle models the team’s new uniforms, unveiled Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Courtesy of PWHL)
Minnesota Frost center Taylor Heise models the team’s new home uniforms, unveiled Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.

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Addressing widespread fraud in state government is a central issue this year at the Minnesota Legislature. But while both parties have said they’re committed to fighting the problem, disagreement over the particulars continues to threaten progress in the state House.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor House members on Wednesday unveiled a package of fraud proposals for the 2026 legislative session that includes measures to boost Medicaid fraud enforcement at the attorney general’s office, modernize state computer systems and increase the number of provider audits and in-person site visits.

DFLers also say they want to reverse a decades-long trend of privatizing government services, which they blame for greater vulnerability to fraud in state programs. House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson said the universal free school meals program created by his party in 2023 has had no fraud scandal because its structure doesn’t allow for it.

“That program does not have fraud, because lunch ladies don’t commit fraud, right?” he told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. “When you have that public program with direct accountability, you close the opportunity for fraud that exists, as we are finding when you have a privatization model that allows for other layers to be in there.”

Debate over how to protect programs

Lawmakers continue to debate how to strengthen protections in government programs amid allegations of hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud at the Department of Human Services and Department of Education, and speculation that fraud could reach the billions. Federal prosecutors have charged dozens in schemes exploiting programs like housing support for people with addiction and disabilities, autism support programs and a pandemic-era meal program for children.

One of the major changes DFLers are proposing is a significant boost in staffing at the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Attorney General’s Office. Federal prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office had been the primary engine for accountability in recent fraud scandals, but many staff there resigned last month — reportedly in protest of the Trump administration’s actions during last month’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine and Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart, DFL-Minnetonka, are backing a bill to add 18 people at the state level to handle Medicaid fraud, boosting staff at the office to 50. It would cost around $1.2 million a year.

The House DFL’s fraud plan has a dozen or so bills and superficially bears similarity to Republican proposals. Though key disagreements have stalled progress in the tied House, where both parties have 67 members.

Republican proposals

Republicans have a slate of proposals aimed at fighting fraud, including creating criminal penalties for state employees who falsify paperwork during audits. However, a bill to create a statewide independent watchdog office — the office of inspector general — continues to fail committee votes as House DFLers continue attempting to modify the bill to remove the office’s enforcement capacity or allow the governor to directly appoint its head.

Republicans have continually rejected those changes, and noted that DFLers in the Senate had backed the inspector general bill last year. In 2025, the original bill, sponsored by Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, passed 60-7 in the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, but never got a vote in the House.

House DFLers are now saying an enforcement division at the inspector general would be “redundant” since there’s already an anti-fraud enforcement at the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

A version of the bill carried by Norris also allows the governor to directly appoint the inspector general rather than pick one from a field of candidates selected by a bipartisan commission of state lawmakers.

Stephenson said he believes Republicans had placed too much emphasis that the inspector general bill, when addressing fraud, would require action on multiple fronts.

“One of the problems about this debate, particularly this year, though, to be honest with you, has been that it’s too focused on the idea that there’s one bill that’s going to solve this problem,” he said.

In a joint statement Wednesday afternoon, Republican House leadership accused DFLers of continued delaying action on fraud — pointing to the inspector general bill’s repeated failure to pass committee votes.

“The culture of fraud that has taken root in Minnesota didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen by accident,” House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska, said. “It happened because of the lack of action from Minnesota Democrats. Period. Now that fraud has become a political liability, Democrats are talking tough and trying to rebrand themselves as reformers, but Minnesotans aren’t buying it.”

‘It’s stalled, but it’s not dead’

Meanwhile, some Republicans remain optimistic that there could be a compromise on fraud legislation.

Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, who carried the Senate version of the inspector general bill with Gustafson, said last week that “it’s stalled, but it’s not dead.”

As lawmakers continued to negotiate fraud proposals this week, a report released Monday described longstanding vulnerabilities dating back to the 1970s and repeated inaction by state leaders despite nearly a half-century of warnings.

Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Walz’s director of Program Integrity, Tim O’Malley, released what he described as a “roadmap” to address those vulnerabilities, which he said were driven in large part by a culture in state agencies “more based on compassion than compliance.”

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