Goodell Gives Fall Deadline for NFL Sunday Ticket Decision

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that the league will secure a deal for its NFL Sunday Ticket package with a streaming service by the fall — after more than 25 years on DirecTV. 

Amazon, Apple, and Disney are poised to contend for Sunday Ticket, which allows subscribers to watch every NFL game on Sundays regardless of their home market. 

• The NFL is seeking $2.5 billion to $3 billion annually for rights.
• DirecTV has held rights to the package since 1994 — its current deal ends after 2022.
• DirecTV will pay $1.5 billion for the 2022 season. 

The NFL is also looking to bundle Sunday Ticket with a stake in NFL Media, which includes the NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL.com.

America’s most popular professional sports league continues to be a hot commodity. In March 2021, the NFL finalized its media rights deals with CBS, NBC, FOX, and Amazon. 

The deals — which begin in 2023 — are believed to be worth $113 billion over 11 seasons. 

Amazon will pay $1 billion per year for exclusive rights to “Thursday Night Football,” while Disney-owned ESPN will pay $2.7 billion annually to broadcast “Monday Night Football.” 

Committed to Live Sports 

Apple would diversify its portfolio of sports-related investments with a deal with the NFL. 

In March, the tech giant made its first foray into live sports when it secured media rights to stream MLB in a deal worth $85 million annually.

Last month, it agreed to a deal worth at least $2.5 billion to stream MLS matches.