As we wait for the NFL to decide on a new partner for Sunday Ticket, the folks at Sports Business Journal have floated an intriguing possibility.
Are the talks not going well?
John Ourand suggested it, and Ben Fischer mentioned it at the top of his most recent SBJ Football newsletter.
“They expected the Sunday Ticket rights to be completed by Super Bowl,” Ourand said. “We’re in mid-July now.”
Prior reporting has suggested that the league will award the rights in the fall, with bids made by Amazon, Apple, and Disney. But if the league was getting what it wanted, wouldn’t the deal already be done?
On one hand, they have time. The current deal with DirecTV runs through 2022. On the other hand, if they had an offer they liked, they would have taken it by now.
At least one report has suggested that the rights could bring the NFL up to $3 billion per year. Maybe that’s wishful thinking from the league. Maybe it’s an effort to get as far over $2 billion as they can. Regardless, there’s a reason for the league’s failure to already have a deal for 2023 in place -- and it’s possible that they’re still waiting for the number that they want.
