What you need to know
- Apple is back in the running for an NFL package on its platforms.
- A new report says the company would be the NFL's preferred Sunday Ticket partner in the future.
A new report says that Apple would be the NFL's preferred future partner for its Sunday Ticket package, which is up for renewal next year.
As reported by The Athletic:
The NFL's much-discussed Sunday Ticket package is in the news of late, with one report having Amazon as the lead contender to acquire the out-of-market games that are up for bid, while another touts Disney's ESPN empire as interested.All fair, but it's still early in the process, and sources say the NFL wants — or perhaps, better termed, hopes — Apple gets the out-of-market package
The report claims a future deal would look "a lot different structurally" to the current DirecTV offering, and that the NFL is considering letting fans buy out-of-market games for just one team or even stand-alone games in a pay as you go model.
One source reportedly told the outlet that "everything is on the table", but postulates that the league would prefer Apple because of its massive scale:
However, unlike Amazon, which is a retailer, and ESPN, a content company, the NFL with Apple would for the first time be doing business on a large scale with the preeminent technology giant. It would marry the NFL with the company that sells arguably the globe's most critical consumer product, the iPhone.
TV consultant and Former Fox Sports executive Patrick Crakes told The Athletic that the NFL would view Apple as a "great diversification" tool for its portfolio of games.
One source "close to the league" reportedly said there was a "ton of interest in this product from a lot of companies" including Apple, but that nothing was imminent.
Apple's name has been dropped multiple times, however, when the NFL announced its new $100 billion deal for TV rights through 20333 earlier this year, Apple was nowhere to be seen. Analysts at the time, however, said we shouldn't count out Apple as a Sunday Ticket distributor in the future. The current Sunday Ticket contract is up in 2022.
