Amazon’s incursion into sports media could soon include NFL Sunday Ticket.
Amazon is seen by its competitors as the leading contender to acquire Sunday Ticket, the NFL’s out-of-market game package, CNBC reported Friday. The company is said to have “a serious interest” in the rights, which are currently held by DirecTV through the end of next season.
Per the report, the NFL is seeking $2-2.5 billion per year for the rights. Amazon earlier this year acquired rights to Thursday Night Football for a reported $1.2 billion per year starting next season. Should the company strike a deal for Sunday Ticket, it would pay the NFL well over $3 billion/year in media rights, more than any other company.
If Amazon is the frontrunner for Sunday Ticket, it still faces notable competition. Disney has repeatedly expressed its interest in the package, Apple was mentioned as a contender earlier in the year, and even incumbent DirecTV — which was spun off from AT&T earlier this year — “is still considering its options.”
Talks are said to be “progressing” with the various contenders, with the NFL reportedly wanting a deal done by the end of the season in February.
Amazon’s NFL involvement has thus far been modest. The company began streaming Thursday Night Football games in 2017, part of a non-exclusive triplecast that included FOX and NFL Network, and only carried its first exclusive game this past December — a late season Saturday matinee between the Cardinals and 49ers. Rather quickly, Amazon will go from a relative afterthought in NFL broadcasting to the sole home of TNF and potentially, every out-of-market game.
[CNBC 9.10]
