DirecTV has owned NFL Sunday Ticket rights for years, but that deal ends with the 2022-2023 season. The satellite TV service has reportedly sat out of the bidding process for scoring a new deal.
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, Alex Sherman of CNBC.com reports.
The NFL is seeking $2 billion per year for Sunday Ticket and a chunk of NFL Media. Currently, DirecTV is paying $1.5 billion per year.
Despite not making a bid, that doesn’t mean DirecTV won’t offer Sunday Ticket at all after the 2022 season. Per the CNBC article, the company may attempt to negotiate a deal with the winning bidder, focused around providing the service to bars and restaurants and/or acting as a residential pass-through.
“DirecTV isn’t bidding on the current rights package but is willing to cut a deal with the winning buyer, two of the people said. An agreement, if reached, could lessen the financial burden for the winning streaming platform.
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. Sunday Ticket is also popular with sports gamblers who want to see multiple games at the same time.
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. It would also backstop any potential streaming latency or reliability issues that may come with broadcasting live football over broadband.”
NFL Sunday Ticket includes access to out-of-market football games that aren’t available from local networks. DirecTV currently charges between around $300 per season for access to Sunday Ticket.
