Apple may have secured the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket for Apple TV+

If true, this would be a bombshell sports pickup for Apple’s young streaming service.

The original sourcing for this news is behind a paywall, so allow me to share what Bobby Burack wrote over at Outkick:

Last year, the NFL secured broadcast rights with NBC, Fox, Disney, CBS and Amazon to take the league through the end of the 2033 season. Now, the NFL appears to have found a sixth partner: Apple.

Matt Belloni reported in his Puck newsletter over the weekend that Apple is the clear frontrunner to land NFL Sunday Ticket, a package that gives subscribers access to all out-of-market matchups.

“My sources say it’s Apple’s to lose, at this point. (One source told me this weekend that the deal is actually done and is being kept quiet at Apple’s request, which I haven’t confirmed…),” Belloni reports.

If this proves true (and remember that neither Apple nor the NFL have confirmed it as of this writing) it would be massive news. Apple has certainly made it clear that they want to be a home for live sports. I think there’s no doubt that Apple’s deal with MLB for Friday Night Baseball proves that. In years past, Apple had been rumored to be interested in becoming the home of Thursday Night Football, which ultimately went to Amazon Prime Video. If Apple were to get NFL Sunday Ticket, it would instantly become a major player in sports broadcasting. NFL Sunday Ticket rebroadcasts the out-of-market Sunday afternoon NFL games from CBS and Fox, so it’s a coveted package if you’re a fan of the NFL and specifically a fan of an NFL team that’s not in the market in which you live.

Assuming this news is true, I have a few questions:

When would Apple be able to stream NFL Sunday Ticket games?

DirecTV has had the package forever, and they currently have it through the end of the 2022 season. Presumably that means that Apple couldn’t begin streaming Sunday Ticket games until 2023. Would Apple write a check to DirecTV to begin streaming as early as this year’s season? It’s possible, but doesn’t seem likely given that DirecTV is currently selling Sunday Ticket packages.

When will Apple announce the deal?

If, as the quote above says, Apple has already made the deal and just hasn’t announced it, when will they do so? Assuming they can’t start streaming until 2023 it would be out-of-character for them to pre-announce something that doesn’t deliver for that length of time, but this is too big of a deal for Apple to keep quiet for long. That’s partially why I wondered if they might try to cut a deal to get it for 2022. The next media event at which Apple could announce the deal is WWDC, but that seems an odd event to announce a streaming content deal.

Will Apple charge separately for NFL Sunday Ticket?

This is the most intriguing question. The deal is rumored to be worth up to $2.5 billion. DirecTV sells a couple of Sunday Ticket packages starting at $293.94 for a single season. Of course it’s typical for cable and satellite providers to sell separate bundles of content whereas that’s not typically part of internet streaming services (though not unheard of). Will Apple charge a separate fee for a season of NFL Sunday Ticket, or just include it as part of the regular $5/month Apple TV+ subscription? It probably comes down to whether they see this as a specific way of generating revenue to pay for Sunday Ticket, or if it’s just meant to induce people to subscribe to Apple TV+. Apple doesn’t charge anything extra for Friday Night Baseball, but it’s a much smaller deal both in terms of content and cost to Apple. I’m really conflicted on this. On the one hand, they’d be leaving money on the table by not charging extra for Sunday Ticket, but on the other hand it feels un-Apple-like for them to sell a bundle of someone else’s content. I can’t wait to find out the answer to this question.

Will Apple be able to brand this content?

One of the really neat things about Apple carrying Friday Night Baseball is that they get to put their creative stamp on all of the on-scree graphics during the broadcast. But Sunday Ticket entails rebroadcasting games from other networks. Presumably that means that all of the graphics would be handled by CBS and Fox. If so, that’s a bit disappointing, but probably a deal Apple would be willing to make.

If Apple does get NFL Sunday Ticket, they’re going to move a lot of Apple TV+ subscriptions. We’re talking millions of them. Especially if it comes without a separate charge. But even if it does, Apple will instantly become a power player in sports broadcasting over night. Intriguing to watch, for sure.