Amazon is in talks to get the rights to the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” package and is seen as a favorite through others involved in league talks, according to others familiar with the matter.
Amazon has a keen interest in the multi-year package of off-market games, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Amazon agreed in May to pay about $1 billion a year to Thursday’s exclusive provider. Night football games starting next year This deal made Amazon Prime Video the first streaming service to have an NFL-exclusive streaming package.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the discussions over “Sunday Ticket. “
The NFL is expected to ask for between $2 billion and $2. 5 billion a year for the package and must conclude discussions before the season ends in February, two of the other people said. “Sunday Ticket” has been owned by DirecTV for 27 years. . Talks are progressing with stakeholders, suggesting the league is moving closer to opting for a new provider, other people said.
DirecTV, which in
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC on Wednesday that the off-market Sunday gaming package “may be more enjoyable to surf on a virtual platform,” as streaming platforms continue to load subscribers at the expense of classic pay TV. the league is for a strategic spouse to get not only the rights to “Sunday Ticket,” but also invest in NFL Network, which streams NFL content year-round, and NFL RedZone, which shows live footage of the game’s action when groups are close to scoring touchdowns. The NFL lately owns NFL Network and NFL RedZone.
Amazon is vying for the rights to Sunday’s game. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro told Bloomberg this week that “Sunday Ticket” is “an incredibly valuable product” and claimed Disney has had exploratory conversations with the league. expressed interest in the package. NBCUniversal’s Peacock is not expected to bid for the rights, according to a user close to the matter.
Several media outlets concerned in the discussions told CNBC that they see Amazon as the favorite to win the rights to the package. NBC News reported on Amazon and ESPN’s early interest in the package in July.
DirecTV remains its features, but it may not have the track record to compete with Amazon or Apple, whose market valuations are near or above $2 trillion, two other people said.
DirecTV has paid around $1. 5 billion a year for “Sunday Ticket” for the more than seven seasons and lately charges around $300 for the bundle as a complement. The satellite TV provider now also offers “Sunday Ticket” as a component of its “Choice”. , Pay TV packages “Ultimate” and “Premier”.
DirecTV lost cash on “Sunday Ticket” for many years. With its current value of $300, DirecTV would want five million subscribers to break even. DirecTV has an average of more than 2 million “Sunday Ticket” subscribers over many years, according to a user close to the archive. The directors of DirecTV and its majority owner AT
Still, DirecTV was willing to use “Sunday Ticket” as a calling product if it turned its subscribers into satellite TV consumers during the year. That way, the company can recoup some of its losses by collecting a monthly pay TV payment during the year. NFL season and its seven-month off-season.
The NFL would possibly particularly expand the audience of “Sunday Ticket” by separating the product from DirecTV. The satellite TV provider allows consumers to stream “Sunday Ticket” without fitting in a DirecTV visitor only if they live in spaces where they don’t have access to DirecTV. A streaming service would allow anyone to access “Sunday Ticket” without the added restriction of having to replace their Pay-TV provider with DirecTV. This can also unlock the product for millions of Americans who purchase the TV service from AC included with band. wide. DirecTV does not offer high-speed Internet service.
Amazon also has an ancillary business that it must offer to “Sunday Ticket” subscribers: an Amazon Prime subscription. Amazon’s video strategy has long been to get other people hooked on Prime. In its efforts to be “The Everything Store,” Amazon can use live sports to identify a direct relationship with enthusiasts who are also interested in buying sporting goods. Amazon has reached deals with Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders over the next year as it tries to connect with audiences with Prime Video and live sports.
Amazon also expects to expand the Prime Video business with its pending $8. 45 billion acquisition of MGM and its “Thursday Night Football” acquisition to create a booming advertising business, which rose 87% year-over-year this quarter to more than $7. 9 billion. While Amazon still lag behind virtual advertising giants Facebook and Google in terms of % market age in the U. S. In the U. S. , the company recoused 10. 3% of U. S. dollars from virtual advertising last year, up from 7. 8% in 2019, according to a report by research corporation eMarketer.
Amazon Web Services has also been the NFL’s generation provider in the progression of Next Gen Stats, which has analyzed and stored knowledge about each and every NFL player and game since 2017. The league renewed its broadcast deals with all of its existing media partners earlier this year. While Apple’s purchasing power rivals Amazon’s, Apple doesn’t share the same dating history with the NFL.
The acquisition of the live sports rights also allows Amazon to expand its business as regulators crack down on acquisitions from giant generations. Amazon has already expanded into startups by soothing total food, Ring and Zappos. President Lina Khan, who has criticized Amazon’s developing market strength and influence on the economy, discusses Amazon’s deals. How regulators view MgM’s pending deal from Amazon will be a window into Khan’s thinking.
– CNBC’s Jabari Young helped with this story.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
WATCH: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Verizon Partnership, ‘Sunday Ticket’
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