The National Football League announced on Thursday that its Sunday Ticket subscription bundle will go to Google’s YouTube TV starting next season, marking the league’s second media deal with the streaming service.
According to people acquainted with the matter, YouTube TV pays around $2 billion a yr for the rights to the Sunday Ticket package.
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At the beginning of the 2023-24 season, the Sunday Ticket can be available in two ways: as an add-on bundle on YouTube TV and as a standalone a-la-carte option on YouTube Primetime channels, which allows you to subscribe to individual broadcasts of services and channels, in addition to watch movies. Prices haven’t yet been announced.
“For a few years, we have focused on increasing the digital distribution of our games, and this partnership is one other example of how we glance to the longer term and construct a latest generation of NFL fans,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a Thursday announcement.
DirecTV has had the rights to Sunday Ticket since its inception in 1994, paying $1.5 billion a yr for them because the last extension in 2014. He didn’t make a proposal to keep his contract. Still, the satellite TV provider has been open to offering gaming to industrial establishments akin to bars and restaurants, as has a deal with Amazon for “Thursday Night Football,” according to people acquainted with the matter.
The YouTube TV deal doesn’t include industrial rights, which could increase the worth of the package, and the NFL remains to be figuring this out, according to one person.
A US-only product, the Sunday Ticket is the one way fans can watch Sunday afternoon NFL games live outside of their local markets on CBS and Fox broadcast stations.
That is the last NFL package to receive a media rights renewal. last yr a very powerfulCBS, fox and ComcastNBC has agreed to pay greater than $2 billion a yr for 11-year packages, while Disney pays about $2.7 billion a yr for Monday Night Football, CNBC previously reported.
Amazon secured the rights to “Thursday Night Football”, making it the primary streaming-only platform to broadcast NFL games, paying roughly $1 billion a yr.
The league has been in negotiations for a while to find a latest owner for the Sunday Ticket. AppleAmazon and Disney ESPN has been certainly one of the interested bidders for the package at one point or one other, CNBC previously reported.
YouTube TV is an Web-based broadcast and cable network package that mirrors the standard linear pay-TV provider. Its basic plan costs $64.99 monthly. In July, Google announced that YouTube TV had surpassed 5 million customers, including trial subscriptions.
YouTube Primetime Channels, which can be an a la carte option for Sunday Ticket, is a distribution platform similar to subscribing to networks and streaming services via Amazon Prime Channels.
By comparison, Apple recently signed a 10-year deal for Major League Soccer broadcasting rights. The tech giant recently announced that the MLS Season Pass will launch in February and can be available to fans on the Apple TV app for $14.99 monthly per season. Subscribers to the Apple TV+ streaming service who already pay $4.99 a month can join for $12.99 a month.
In recent months, YouTube TV has emerged as a strong contender for the rights, provided that it could deliver much of what the league hoped to achieve with its latest Sunday Ticket partner – a technology platform with a large balance sheet and global reach, and the power to support legacy TVs bundled together.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is pushing for the Sunday Ticket to go to a streaming service. “I believe that is what’s best for consumers at this stage,” Goodell told CNBC.
For a while, it seemed that Apple was close to getting the rights. The company is expanding its sports coverage with the Apple TV+ streaming service. He recently signed a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer starting in 2023, and last yr began airing Major League Baseball games on Friday nights.
Nevertheless, discussions were halted due to existing restrictions on Sunday ticket rights, and Apple wanted more flexibility in how the package was distributed, CNBC previously reported.
Amazon was also named as one other top contender provided that it already airs “Thursday Night Football” games and is a streaming-only platform.
While these contests are mostly aired on Prime, DirecTV deals with the industrial distribution of gamesin bars, restaurants, hotels and retail stores. The two reached a multi-year deal before the season began. DirecTV is interested in delivering Sunday Ticket games in similar capability, people acquainted with the matter have said.