An NFL Sunday Ticket deal with YouTube TV is close

The National Football League is finalizing a deal for rights to its subscription-only games, known as Sunday Tickets. Google’s YouTube TV, according to people familiar with the matter.

The league has been in talks for months for the rights to the package, long held by DirecTV, with the goal of striking a deal with the streaming service to expand the NFL’s reach and partnership.

 

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However, the deal does not include a stake in NFL Media, which includes linear cable channels NFL Network and RedZone, which the league has been shopping with Sunday ticket rights, one of the people said. The sources asked not to be named because talks are ongoing.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell previously said the NFL may decide to sell each asset separately when packaging minority stakes in Sunday Tickets.

The Wall Street Journal Earlier the status of Sunday ticket talks was reported. An NFL spokesman declined to comment, and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

Terms of the deal were still being ironed out on Tuesday, the people said. DirecTV has been paying $1.5 billion annually since 2015. The NFL is seeking a buyer for Sunday tickets for between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Goodell previously said the league aims to announce a franchise deal with Sunday Ticket by the end of the fall. The Sunday Ticket package is the NFL’s only package of media rights that is not renewed until 2030.

The deal with YouTube TV comes after several other media operators Amazon, Apple And Disney’s ESPN considered the rights to the property.

The NFL was in close talks with Apple until recently, the people said. However, restrictions surrounding Sunday Ticket have slowed negotiations with Apple in recent months, CNBC previously reported.

The league also wants to diversify its partnerships with media companies and contribute more to streaming.

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