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Sunday Ticket … via Apple ?

13K views 383 replies 24 participants last post by  harsh 
#1 · (Edited)
Rumors today all Apple.

New Puck Editor Matthew Belloni says his sources say, “It’s Apple's to lose at this point. (One source told me this weekend that the deal is actually done and is being kept quiet at Apple’s request, which I haven’t confirmed and don’t know for a fact; Apple isn’t commenting.)”
 
#2 ·
#10 ·
DIRECTV isn't losing too much on Sunday Ticket and this year all of any losses are being covered by AT&T ... so there is no benefit in DIRECTV ending the exclusive early. The penalty for ending the contract early would be losing any subscribers who are holding on to DIRECTV purely for NFLST.
 
#40 ·
The NFL and then AT&T|DIRECTV went through the math a couple of years ago. Either side could have walked away from the contract at that time but the NFL chose to keep the bird in the hand ($1.5 billion per year) instead of looking for a new partner at that time and while AT&T|DIRECTV wanted to expand the service to streaming they did not want to pay more. The contract remains in force for one more season.

I believe any "losses" on NFL ST are simply on paper and DIRECTV would suffer much greater financial losses if they gave up the service completely. The only way I see the exclusive ending prior to the end of next season is if something better is offered at a reasonable price. A wad of cash to make DIRECTV go away isn't "something better". A semi-exclusive or non-exclusive deal that would allow DIRECTV satellite to continue delivering the service while Apple or another streamer offers a streaming version could be put in place for 22-23. Something that would allow DIRECTV to continue beyond 22-23 with ST if they don't mind giving up their last exclusive year.
 
#41 ·
A larger question, IMO, is even if some streamer gets the deal and if DirecTV would be willing to sell it, and if the NFL would agree to it, would the new company have their infrastructure ready to go by opening day ? I don't think it would be in their interest to roll out some half baked product that hasn't been adequately tested and risk the wrath of a bunch of angry football fans.
 
#48 ·
Maybe some of you simply have skin in the game, but I'm really not too concerned about the logistics of sports bars being able to carry NFL Sunday Ticket under a new deal/provider/platform.

If a business really wants it, they'll figure out a way.
 
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#59 ·
Yeah to drink and party with their friends. I can't imagine people squinting at their 5" screens and doing much partying. I think sports bars will still have games on their big screens. I think Apple will have something in place for commercial establishments even if it is having DirecTV supplying the sat signal to them until they come up with their own system.
 
#62 ·
I'm not convinced, and I'll be SHOCKED if DirecTV is involved at all. But, well, local games will still be available via broadcast/Sat/Cable anyway, so most weekends they will still have 4 or 5 games to show regardless. If they are interested in New York to watch the Packers play the Falcons on a non-national game, they'll figure out a way to watch.
 
#78 ·
Netflix’s recent collapse actually teaches us that we now in the mature streaming era.

This, however, has little to do with ST, and especially with commercial ST. Communal watching of multiple games at once is a major activity of many people of many different ages. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make that so.
 
#80 ·
Netflix’s recent collapse actually teaches us that we now in the mature streaming era.

This, however, has little to do with ST, and especially with commercial ST. Communal watching of multiple games at once is a major activity of many people of many different ages. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make that so.
I think Netflix's recent collapse has more to do with their lack of good content than anything else. Most of the movies are least 5 years old or older and they are losing a lot of content to the other streamers. I'm very close to canceling for those reasons.
 
#90 ·
The resulting law — the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 — gave the NFL (and other pro sports leagues) a broadcasting antitrust exemption, while also essentially banning the NFL from televising games on Saturdays during most of the fall, to protect college football. The ban also covers Friday nights in deference to high school football.
From the article: The game would likely have to be played in the afternoon, as the league can’t televise prime time games on Friday nights in November as part of its antitrust exemption.
 
#91 · (Edited)
#93 ·
HOW APPLE CAN MAKE SUNDAY TICKET WORK

by Gavin Bridge (04.25.2022)

“If reports are to be believed, Apple is the successful bidder for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package, paying at least $500M more a year for the rights for a total worth over $2 billion annually.”

 
#99 ·
That's what I always thought. Apple was going to use ST as an incentive to join ATV+ at a lot cheaper per season than ST was with DIrecTV. And with that, the need to go to a bar to go watch the games becomes less important. Paying even $10 a month for 4 months is reasonable for most football fans. Imagine if it's only the base $5 a month.
 
#103 ·
I really don't believe Apple will give everyone Apple TV+ and NFL ST for $4.99 per month. I think they will bump it up to $5.99 ($71.88 per year) or even $6.99 ($83.88 per year) which is still a deal for NFL addicts. And to thwart people from only subscribing during the season they might make a years subscription less than 12 payments of whatever they charge per month. Yes keeping it at $4.99 will increase their subscriber numbers but Apple has a raising prices when the "experts" think otherwise. Tech writers were sure the new iPhone SE would list for $199 but when it was released it was $429.
 
#106 ·
At $2B/year, and if you assume Apple make $4/month per subscriber after paying for all the other content on Apple TV + and the tech costs, Apple would need 41.6M new subscribers. Or nearly triple the current number.

So, no, Apple is going to do exactly what DirecTV did. Predicate access to ST on first buying Apple TV (or perhaps a new phone or other item) and THEN charging a significant amount for the ST package. Perhaps not what DirecTV was, but certainly at least 3 figures/year and far less “retention specials”.

As to commercial, the idea that people are going to bars to watch ballgames on their phones is a non-starter. And irrelevant, since the phones would be on their own accounts. The idea that someone will just use a personal account to toss up the games will happen. There are over a million bars in the country, many local and unwelcoming to strangers, and only so many spies. The bigger chains and more public places will pay up, as watching sports communally is a thing, and always will be. Commercial will be at about what DirecTV charges now, or perhaps more, as DirecTV predicates ST on getting the bar’s regular TV from it, and there is nothing on Apple TV a bar needs, save a small Friday baseball package.
 
#111 ·
To break even on the expected $2.5 billion price tag Apple would need 10 million subscribers paying $250 a pop. The more I think about it the less likely I think Apple is going to give it away for their normal price of $4.99 per month. They didn't get to be the richest company on the planet by giving stuff away. They got that way by charging a premium price for their products. Apple isn't in business to break even.
 
#114 ·
What we don't know is if Apple (or whoever) gets Sunday Ticket if their contract will allow a "team only" option, allowing subscribers to watch only their team out of market. For many years, Sunday Ticket has sort of been a one size fits all option, and perhaps there will be a tiered plan. We don't know any of the details and truth be told, we don't even know, for sure, if it will be Apple.
 
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