Alphabet’s (Nasdaq: GOOGL) YouTube finalized the $2-billion per year deal to secure the NFL Sunday Ticket franchise, solidifying the video platform’s presence in the streaming space.
NFL Sunday Ticket is a subscription-only service that allows football fans to see the majority of Sunday afternoon games. The platform is moving from DirecTV, a satellite broadcaster co-owned by AT&T Inc. and private equity firm TPG Inc., which currently pays $1.5 billion each year for Sunday Ticket rights.
According to the people familiar with the matter, YouTube is licensing the residential rights for seven years, roughly worth around $2 billion per season and could increase if certain milestones are met. For an additional $200 million, the NFL will attempt to license commercial rights for bars and restaurants.
The report follows the development that YouTube was reportedly in advanced talks with the National Football League to acquire the rights to the league’s subscription platform.
Sunday Ticket will be available on YouTube TV and on the video platform’s main app via a tool called Primetime Channels, which allows viewers to subscribe to various channels.
“Technological and product innovation is one of the things that is particularly exciting about bringing this type of content,” said Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube.
DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket rights will expire at the end of the 2022 regular season. It became evident during the previous year that the league intended to sell the Sunday Ticket rights to a streaming provider.
The deal would be the NFL’s second major streaming package, following Amazon’s acquisition of exclusive rights to the league’s Thursday night games earlier this season.
Google last traded at $89.58 on the Nasdaq.
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