As the football-watching worlds watches and waits for news as to where it will be watching Sunday Ticket in 2023, a new contender for the package has emerged.
According to the New York Times, Google has made a bid for the out-of-market service. The games would be streamed through YouTube, which is owned by Google.
Other bidders include Apple, Amazon, and Disney.
NFL media executive Brian Rolapp told the Times that the league expects to finalize a Sunday Ticket arrangement for 2023 and beyond “in the coming months.”
“A number of companies are in strong position to potentially land Sunday Ticket, but we still have a ways to go in this process,” Rolapp told the Times in a written statement.
The league is hoping to get more than $2.5 billion per year for Sunday Ticket. One report pegged the number as high as $3 billion. Others have suggested that maybe the talks aren’t going well; otherwise, a deal would be done by now.
The Times pins the delay on the league’s ongoing interest in dumping other properties into the transaction, including a piece of NFL Network, the RedZone channel, and NFL+, the league’s new subscription service.
Apple, per the Times, remains the perceived frontrunner. CEO Tim Cook has met with league officials, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft regarding Sunday Ticket. The Times writes that Apple “has made winning the package a priority.”
Many would say that any company having the rights other than DirecTV will be a win. That’s the only thing that’s known at this point; after 2022, DirecTV is out. At some point during the 2022 season, we’ll find out who will be in come 2023.