Apple gave up buying NFL broadcasting rights for more than $2 billion - Google and Amazon are left in the race
A year ago, Apple was the main favorite to win the rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games, but during this time things have changed.
Here's What We Know
A year later, the Cupertino-based company decided to pull out of the negotiations because it "doesn't see the logic in it." Along with Apple, Disney withdrew from buying the rights, so only Amazon and Google remain in the race. The first has a streaming service Prime Video, and the second can use the new contract to accelerate the development of YouTube TV.
The companies are fighting for a package of Sunday Ticket rights, which will allow them to broadcast Sunday championship matches. Amazon looks like a slight favorite over Google, since it already shows the games on Thursdays.
As for Apple pulling out of the negotiations, the likely reason is that the company wanted to stream the games in a $7-a-month subscription. The league disagreed with that price because it needed to protect the interests of two other broadcasters (CBS and Fox), which paid $40 billion for the 2023 season.
According to The Athletic, the rights to the Sunday Ticket package would be worth more than $2 billion. Broadcaster DirecTV was paying $500 million less.
