'NFL Sunday Ticket' fight appears to have new front-runner
The 'Sunday Ticket' wars appear to be nearing an end
The war for rights to the NFL’s "Sunday Ticket" service appears to be coming to an end.
The NFL and Google’s YouTube were in "advanced talks" for exclusive rights to the subscription service, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The sports package allows fans to catch games outside of their local market.
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DirecTV celebrates the 25th season of "NFL Sunday Ticket" signage at Nomad Hotel Los Angeles July 17, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV / Getty Images)
DirecTV has had exclusive rights to "NFL Sunday Ticket" in the United States. The 2022 season was the final year the company would be the exclusive carrier of the service.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this year that Amazon and Apple were the leading bidders and expected some other company to take over the deal. DirecTV extended its contract in 2014 and pays $1.5 billion per season.
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The new deal is expected to fetch around $2.5 billion per year. The Wall Street Journal didn’t report on the potential numbers being thrown around in the talks with Google. The outlet reported that a deal could be reached as early as Wednesday.
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs warms up before kickoff against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium Dec. 18, 2022, in Houston. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The NFL had no comment on the report.
YouTube TV didn't immediately respond to Fox Business' request for comment.
Google and the NFL met in August 2013 before the league and DirecTV agreed on an extension. At the time, analysts believed DirecTV was losing money on that deal.
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NFL "Sunday Ticket" at the Super Bowl LIII Experience Jan. 29, 2019, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The NFL dipped its toe in the subscription game back in the summer with the launch of NFL+. The service offered access to preseason games, live local and primetime regular season and postseason games on mobile devices, live local and national audio for every game, NFL Network shows on demand and the NFL Films archive.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.