There are new details about the companies that had active discussions with the NFL about acquiring the league’s Sunday Ticket package.
A class-action lawsuit was filed and decided in federal court against the NFL regarding Sunday Ticket, and the magistrate judge’s ruling made public details about discussions the league had and with which third parties.
In court documents, Google, Amazon, Apple, Roku and ESPN were all noted to have submitted proposals regarding rights to Sunday Ticket. Ultimately Google and the NFL came together on a $2.1 billion deal.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, seeking $6 billion in damages from the league, also asked for information about why discussions with Apple broke down. Apple was believed to be the frontrunner to take over Sunday Ticket from DirecTV.
“Public reporting suggests the negotiations broke down because the NFL refused to let Apple distribute local games or offer Sunday Ticket at significantly lower prices,” magistrate judge John McDermott wrote in his opinion. “The NFL, however, argues that documents it has produced suggest numerous reasons why the negotiations failed. None of the reasons cited by (the) NFL and Apple contained any reference to Sunday Ticket package pricing.”
While the companies above were noted to have submitted proposals, the ruling doesn’t reveal which proposals became actual bids. Though clearly Google bid on and won the package.
The NFL always could have distributed Sunday Ticket itself as an option if negotiations with third parties fell apart. The plan all along would’ve been to have Sunday Ticket on NFL+.
