Pro Football Talk is reporting that the NFL is considering exercising an option in its contract with DirecTV that would allow the league to end it’s deal with the satellite provider at the end of next season. If that happens, the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket would hit the open market for the first time since 1994. If it doesn’t, the two sides will have a deal in place through the 2022 season.
The emergence of Red Zone has made the NFL Sunday Ticket price hard to swallow for some DirecTV subscribers. Now that Red Zone is available without the Sunday Ticket subscription, the NFL will need to readjust its pricing model to make the larger package as appealing as it once was.
Despite the $400 price tag for a full season scaring off some potential subscribers, there will still be plenty of suitors for NFL Sunday Ticket when it hits the open market. Awful Announcing’s Phillip Bupp writes that the league expects its suitors to be diverse.
Not only would every cable or satellite company want to pick up the package, but any number of streaming companies would likely be interested. Sports streaming services like ESPN+, B/R Live, or DAZN could be interested. Social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook could be in the mix. Other digital outlets without a focus on sports, like Amazon, Yahoo, Google, Apple, or Verizon, could all take a look.
Mike Florio’s initial report at Pro Football Talk stresses that the NFL is still weighing its options. There has been no firm plan made for opting out of the current deal with DirecTV.
