Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is taking a stand against the NFL's growing reliance on streaming services—and she's got Packers fans in her corner. Last month, Baldwin introduced the "For the Fans Act," legislation designed to ensure that residents of a state can watch their home team's nationally-televised games for free, over the air. The bill gained fresh urgency when it was announced that the Packers-Rams game on Thanksgiving Eve would be streamed exclusively on Netflix, leaving many Wisconsinites scrambling for a subscription.

"As the cost of just about everything continues to rise, the NFL is once again asking Wisconsinites to spend their hard-earned money on another streaming service," Baldwin said in a statement. "Enough is enough. My 'For the Fans Act' would stop this exact scenario and prevent Wisconsin families from being forced to pay for Netflix just to watch the Packers play this Thanksgiving."

This isn't just a local squabble—the NFL is facing unprecedented political pressure on multiple fronts. The Department of Justice is investigating whether the league has exceeded its current broadcast antitrust exemption. Meanwhile, Fox owner Rupert Murdoch has been pushing the question of whether that exemption should be scrapped entirely, using both the op-ed pages of his Wall Street Journal and back-channel government influence.

For Packers fans in Wisconsin, the situation is particularly frustrating. The Thanksgiving Eve game against the Rams will be available on network affiliates in Green Bay and Milwaukee, but the rest of the state will be out of luck without a Netflix subscription. It's the same dynamic for any Packers games that land on Prime Video—a growing trend that's testing fan loyalty.

Whether the "For the Fans Act" gains traction remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the complaints about forcing fans to pay for standalone NFL games are here to stay, and they're only getting louder.