NFL And YouTube Punch Sunday Ticket, Finalizing Deal For Package After Drawn-Out Negotiations With Multiple Bidders

22.12.2022 - 18:03 / deadline.com

The NFL and Google have sealed a multi-year agreement giving YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package in the U.S.

The pact, which takes effect in 2023, replaces a partnership between the league and DirecTV since the introduction of the Sunday Ticket package — which delivers out-of-market games to subscribers — in 1994. The NFL had held talks for months with multiple bidders, indicating last summer that it would likely head to a streaming service. Streaming has been a priority of the league given the surge in spending by digital players on live sports. Amazon, which now has exclusive rights to Thursday night games, was in the mix for Sunday Ticket, as was Apple.

Financial terms were not confirmed, but the deal is sure to be worth billions for the league. DirecTV was understood to be paying $1.5 billion a season for the package. A tranche of long-term rights deals set by the NFL last year netted about $110 billion, an acknowledgement of the league’s continued dominance in the ratings. Legalized betting has enhanced interest even more in offerings like Sunday Ticket.

“We’re excited to bring NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels and usher in a new era of how fans across the United States watch and follow the NFL,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “For a number of years we have been focused on increased digital distribution of our games and this partnership is yet another example of us looking towards the future and building the next generation of NFL fans.”

The package will be available through YouTube’s pay-TV bundle, which now has more than 5 million subscribers, or as and standalone offering accessed via on YouTube Primetime Channels. The