Apple Reportedly Abandons NFL Sunday Ticket Negotiations
The new favorites are Amazon and Google.
In 2021, Apple was considered the favorite to secure the streaming rights to the National Football League's Sunday Ticket package. Now, a year later, the company is said to have abandoned negotiations. The tidbit comes from an article by Puck about Bob Iger's surprise return to Disney. According to author Dylan Byers, Apple recently said no to the NFL "not because they can't afford [the package], but because they don't see the logic in it."
With Disney also reportedly backing out of the denials, the talks became a two-horse race between Amazon and Google. “Amazon may use [the deal] to generate Prime subscriptions; Google can use it to power its YouTube TV business,” Byers adds. Of the two contenders, Amazon is probably the better choice given that Prime Video is the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football for the next decade.
Last year, The Athletic reported that the NFL was asking more than $2 billion a year for the rights to Sunday Ticket, a price at least $500 million higher than what DirecTV had paid to broadcast on Sundays. Games. At a press conference earlier this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday ticket negotiations were at "a very critical point" for the league. That seems to have been an understatement.
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The new favorites are Amazon and Google.
In 2021, Apple was considered the favorite to secure the streaming rights to the National Football League's Sunday Ticket package. Now, a year later, the company is said to have abandoned negotiations. The tidbit comes from an article by Puck about Bob Iger's surprise return to Disney. According to author Dylan Byers, Apple recently said no to the NFL "not because they can't afford [the package], but because they don't see the logic in it."
With Disney also reportedly backing out of the denials, the talks became a two-horse race between Amazon and Google. “Amazon may use [the deal] to generate Prime subscriptions; Google can use it to power its YouTube TV business,” Byers adds. Of the two contenders, Amazon is probably the better choice given that Prime Video is the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football for the next decade.
Last year, The Athletic reported that the NFL was asking more than $2 billion a year for the rights to Sunday Ticket, a price at least $500 million higher than what DirecTV had paid to broadcast on Sundays. Games. At a press conference earlier this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday ticket negotiations were at "a very critical point" for the league. That seems to have been an understatement.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices correct at time of publication.
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