The latest on Apple’s rumored bid to become the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket
After a quiet two months, a new report is out that gives us new insights into what may be under discussion between Apple and the NFL.
Back in April I wrote to you about a juicy rumor having emerged that said that not only was Apple interested in bidding for the rights to be the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket once the current arrangement with DirecTV expires, but that Apple may have already won those rights and the deal was being kept quiet at Apple’s request. It made total sense that Apple would want to win the rights to Sunday Ticket, but the part about Apple already having won them was a little suspect. That would be a massive entertainment deal, and likely won that couldn’t be kept secret, particularly for a year or more.
On Friday, Alex Sherman and Jessica Golden released a new report over at CNBC saying that no winner has been decided. Here’s some of the information from the piece:
Disney, Apple and Amazon have all submitted bids to become the new broadcast rights owner of the National Football League’s out-of-market Sunday Ticket package. They’re just waiting to find out who wins.
The three companies submitted bids weeks ago, according to people familiar with the matter. The NFL continues to be in discussion with all three bidders as it decides which partner it will choose, said the people, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private.
The three companies having submitted bids weeks ago lines up with the rumor from April. However, the key piece of information here is that the NFL is still actively negotiating with all three bidders, tossing cold water onto the rumor that Apple has already secured the rights.
DirecTV is interested in maintaining a relationship with bars and restaurants. Sunday Ticket is a staple in sports bars that use the game package to bring in fans of nonlocal games, most of whom have no other way to watch their favorite team.
And:
DirecTV would also consider acting as a residential pass-through. Under such an agreement, it could transfer all revenue for Sunday Ticket to the rights owner but still offer it to customers. This would allow DirecTV to mitigate churn while reducing switching costs for consumers.
I get why DirecTV wants this. If they don’t get either or both of these things they’re going to lose a large number of subscribers, and they’re already operating in an industry that’s on life support, but I don’t see any way that Apple would allow such a stipulation to go through should they win the bid.
Apple would like to own global rights for Sunday Ticket, two of the people said. The NFL hasn’t reached the phase in its discussions with Apple where it’s decided if it will give those to the company or sell them separately, one of the people said. DirecTV currently owns U.S. rights only.
Yep, this is exactly what Apple would want. Apple TV+ and the Apple TV app are available in many countries around the world. Apple would want their deal with the NFL to extend everywhere. However, given that the U.S. is by far the biggest market for NFL games, it wouldn’t totally surprise me if they’d be willing to cut a deal to get just U.S. distribution if they can’t come to a more comprehensive deal with the NFL.
According to the report, the NFL wants the winning bidder to also buy an ownership stake in NFL Media:
It’s also unclear whether Apple or Amazon has interest in buying a minority stake in NFL Media, which includes cable networks NFL Network and RedZone, and digital site NFL.com. Both technology companies may have little interest in the legacy pay-TV business, which is hemorrhaging millions of subscribers each year. But if the league is tying Sunday Ticket to an NFL Media transaction, both companies could bite the bullet to get a deal done.
Never say never, but I really don’t see Apple having any interest whatsoever in this part of the deal. Despite whatever upside they expect to gain from becoming the new home for NFL Sunday Ticket, my guess is they’d walk if the NFL insisted on this being part of the deal.
As to what Apple would charge customers for access to NFL Sunday Ticket:
That means any owner of Sunday Ticket rights won’t be able to significantly lower the price on the out-of-market package, which typically costs about $300 per year.
Pricing was one of the biggest questions I had about this whole arrangement back in April. Would Apple make Sunday Ticket available to Apple TV+ members at no additional charge? Would they charge a lower, flat fee of, say, $99 per season? If this report is accurate, they may not be able to charge less than what DirecTV currently charges. That would be a disappointment.
However, should Apple acquire the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, I think we not have a good sense of how Apple would handle broadcasting NFL games. As I wrote recently, I think Apple’s recent deal to become the streaming home of Major League Soccer is the blueprint for how Apple and the NFL would work together. NFL Sunday Ticket would be a separate service, but available exclusively in the Apple TV app with select games made available to Apple TV+ customers at no additional charge.
I continue to be very interested in what comes of this deal, and I’ll have more info as it emerges. Stay tuned!