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Apple Reportedly 'Most Likely Winner' of NFL Sunday Ticket Rights, Considering Bid for UEFA Champions League Package

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Rumors have been circulating about Apple bidding on the massive NFL Sunday Ticket package for out-of-market games, with a report just a few weeks ago stating that Apple, Amazon, and Disney were all in the running.

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According to Dylan Byers at Puck News, Apple is now regarded as the "most likely winner" as Disney has dropped out of the bidding that could approach $3 billion per year.
As I learned at Sun Valley, and in subsequent conversations this week with sources close to the talks, the deal will likely come in significantly higher than $2 billion a year—some sources with insight into the talks believe it could come in close to $3 billion. This has effectively removed the cautious, ever-disciplined Disney from consideration, since its own bid came in under $2 billion. (Disney declined to comment.) Existing media partners, like Fox, Comcast and CBS, are also not in contention, I’m told. The race for the Ticket has therefore come down to Apple and Amazon, and while nothing has been signed or agreed to, I have been given ample reason to believe that Apple is the most likely winner of the sweepstakes—and not merely because I was told that Apple’s Tim Cook and Eddy Cue met with Goodell in Sun Valley.
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Byers says that Apple and Amazon are also considering bids for a domestic package of UEFA Champions League games that could cost up to $2.5 billion over six years.

Apple has just begun dipping its toes into the live sports market, starting with a limited package of Friday night Major League Baseball games this season, and recently announcing a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer for worldwide broadcast rights to all games, but it's clear the company has significant ambitions as it seeks to increase its presence in the competitive market.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly 'Most Likely Winner' of NFL Sunday Ticket Rights, Considering Bid for UEFA Champions League Package
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/14/apple-likely-winner-nfl-sunday-ticket/
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syklee26 said:
Apple winning Sunday Ticket and UEFA means it will skyrocket toward the top in the streaming market. This is a complete game changer.

Right now I pay $30 per month for Apple One Premium. I will gladly pay $10 extra for both. Heck, I can pay $15!
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It won’t be part of Apple TV+. These will be Apple TV Channels. Separate fee. Confirmed with the MLS deal.

Makes sense to not bloat the monthly fee of ATV+ with sports content that many people don’t want.

I’d like to see Apple One subscribers get a discount on the channels though, and maybe Premier subscribers get Champions League for free.

Though my guess is:
MLS: $10/month or $80/yr
NFL: $300/yr or $75/month
UEFA: $5/month
 
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cameronp16 said:
If they do no blackouts, I would gladly pay almost any price for it (within reason). If they leave the blackouts in place, it really only is good for fans of teams that are out of market.
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Sunday Ticket exists for out of market fans/NFL addicts so that’s absolutely what it will be.
 
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Please be true, I would pay anything to have the NFL in 4K across all games. Current cable box/Sunday Ticket displaying 720p is embarrassing.
 
throwaway572937 said:
I wish they’d make a bid on F1. I love watching the feed through Sky Sports and I’d want that to continue, but I think Apple TV+ could do a better job from a UI and reliability standpoint than F1TV
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What I love about Sky (or in Australia, we have Kayo) is that you get all sessions. Practice 1-3, Quali & races plus all F2, F3. I can’t see Apple picking that all up.
 
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Seeing as live sports contains the only commercials I can't get rid of these days, I'd rather watch a Ted Lasso commercial than an AWS AI commercial telling me the odds of Deshaun Watson playing a down of football this year :)
 
Does anyone else think this is a long-term premium content play for the AR/VR glasses? Technically, it has been possible for a while to simulate sitting in various sections of the stands through VR, but no one has made it available.

Could Apple make this an exclusive Apple headset feature and keep FaceBook from offering it?
 
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dgdosen said:
Seeing as live sports contains the only commercials I can't get rid of these days, I'd rather watch a Ted Lasso commercial than an AWS AI commercial telling me the odds of Deshaun Watson playing a down of football this year :)
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This is why you get the Sunday Ticket and watch the RedZone channel.

Their motto is '7 hours of commercial free football'

RedZone
 
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Wonder how the price for ATV+ will change or if they will make it an add on like some other companies do with sports> No way they keep it the same price if they are paying $3billion a year.
 
Premium1 said:
Wonder how the price for ATV+ will change or if they will make it an add on like some other companies do with sports> No way they keep it the same price if they are paying $3billion a year.
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While I think it would be a separate channel, how many more subs would they get if they made it part of ATV+?
 
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cameronp16 said:
If they do no blackouts, I would gladly pay almost any price for it (within reason). If they leave the blackouts in place, it really only is good for fans of teams that are out of market.
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That’s never going to happen and is unreasonable to expect, the local broadcast stations pay the NFL a ton of money as well so they won’t allow local games on the package…. Otherwise they are losing a ton of viewers and ad revenue which they use to pay the NFL.
 
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spazzcat said:
While I think it would be a separate channel, how many more subs would they get if they made it part of ATV+?
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Let’s see what they do…. They can certainly afford to take a hit at least for the first year to get a bunch more subs….. I can see them doing something like “NFL Package included with Apple one premium free for one year”…… they would add an astronomical amount of subs
 
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CarAnalogy said:
Let's hope it's not a fumble.
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Or, in the case of the UEFA rights, an own goal.

But seriously, I would be very pleased if Apple obtained the rights to UEFA competitions. So many American networks have had it over the past couple of decades and all have generally done a very poor job. At least NBC does a good job with the English Premier League, so it is possible for Americans to do a good job presenting European football.
 
How will Apple or Amazon handle the bars that show the games via satellite tv today. I wonder how many of the tv there are smart and can stream the content versus a directTv box that they have had for years.
 
cameronp16 said:
If they do no blackouts, I would gladly pay almost any price for it (within reason). If they leave the blackouts in place, it really only is good for fans of teams that are out of market.
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bigjnyc said:
That’s never going to happen and is unreasonable to expect, the local broadcast stations pay the NFL a ton of money as well so they won’t allow local games on the package…. Otherwise they are losing a ton of viewers and ad revenue which they use to pay the NFL.
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VPN FTW!

I can't imagine that Apple would determine ones location by registered name and address (icloud) versus just using an IP location so having a VPN should eliminate the blackout issue with minimal effort.
 
Good to see Apple stepping up to buy the streaming rights of biggest sports leagues in the world.

Live sports is the ultimate live broadcast product, nothing else comes even close.

Sealing these deals would massively drive the adoption of Apple TV.
 
I don't want Apple to be in bed with the NFL or FIFA (or the IOC for that matter) in any capacity whatsoever.
 
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