Big tech companies like Apple and Amazon have set their eyes on something unfamiliar to their industries– live sports broadcasting. Sports broadcasting rights could be crucial if one of these big tech companies wants to dominate.
Apple, Amazon, and multiple other companies threw themselves into the chaos – all bidding for sports leagues’ streaming rights. They are competing for the National Football League’s N.F.L. Sunday Ticket, a package that DirecTV earlier held. The league wants to sell the package for $2.5 billion; that’s $1 billion more than it’s supposed to cost.
Google (Alphabet Inc.) is also eager to join in the bid, with YouTube offering to pay for the package in 2023. Sports leagues see the potential for incredible profits with the high prices – they are thrilled to see more money roll in than they’ve ever made. And this is while traditional sports broadcasting companies are sweating when huge companies – who have made hundreds of billion dollars in their industries – are entering the bid. They aren’t able to pay the price their new rivals can spend.
Why are they so eager to pay? Sports streaming accounted for 95% of all most viewed programs in the U.S in 2021.
“It’s hard when you’re competing with entities that aren’t playing by the same financial rules,” said Bob Iger, the former chief executive and chairman of the Walt Disney Company, which controls ESPN, referring to tech companies’ bankroll.
The N.F.L Sunday Ticket shows off-market games. The ones that aren’t shown on local television. DirecTV lost $500 annually when they hosted the package – so they won’t be bidding this time. But the company did benefit from a reliable subscriber base of two million people.
Apple is considered to have the highest chance of winning the bid. But this deal is delayed by N.F.L. officials when they have to factor in N.F.L. Network, RedZone, and N.F.L.+ channels – the channels that the league runs.
For Apple, winning this bid is the top priority. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, met up with influential N.F.L. people to ensure they’d be supporting the company’s purchase. Of the people visited, we have Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and the Kraft family that owns the New England Patriots.
But Apple may not be able to take it. Since 2014, Amazon, ESPN+, and YouTube as been seeking for sports tickets to buy and are hungry for the N.F.L. Sunday Ticket. The decision will be finalized in a few months. “A number of companies are in a strong position to potentially land Sunday Ticket, but we still have a ways to go in this process,” said Brian Rolapp, the N.F.L.’s chief media and business officer.
Fans will still get to access the Sunday games on DirecTV, regardless of who wins the deal. But, they’d probably have to pay a double premium service from Apple, Amazon, ESPN+, or YouTube. Experts aren’t sure if this will be more than the $294 that DirecTV charges.
But these new companies are trying not to be cable television, like in the past. Cable TV has lost around 25 million homesteads, that traded for apps like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+.
Similar deals will be struck with N.F.L. Thursday night games, NBA, NASCAR, and MLB. And that’s not it. These companies are looking overseas, too – in leagues in Europe. Leagues like UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, and the English Premier League all sold their streaming rights to Amazon.
Although ESPN and Turner would be able to hold most streaming rights for NBA, big tech companies may get to edge in with a small portion of the rights.
Media companies may have to expand and buy each other if they want to compete with the new tech giants in their pool. If they don’t, then they wouldn’t be able to survive in this new scrambled chaos anymore.
“It comes down to a Silicon Valley ego thing,” Mr. Cohen said of the high-dollar N.F.L. deal. “I don’t see a road to profitability. I see a road to victory.”
Apple, Amazon, and multiple other companies threw themselves into the chaos – all bidding for sports leagues’ streaming rights. They are competing for the National Football League’s N.F.L. Sunday Ticket, a package that DirecTV earlier held. The league wants to sell the package for $2.5 billion; that’s $1 billion more than it’s supposed to cost.
Google (Alphabet Inc.) is also eager to join in the bid, with YouTube offering to pay for the package in 2023. Sports leagues see the potential for incredible profits with the high prices – they are thrilled to see more money roll in than they’ve ever made. And this is while traditional sports broadcasting companies are sweating when huge companies – who have made hundreds of billion dollars in their industries – are entering the bid. They aren’t able to pay the price their new rivals can spend.
Why are they so eager to pay? Sports streaming accounted for 95% of all most viewed programs in the U.S in 2021.
“It’s hard when you’re competing with entities that aren’t playing by the same financial rules,” said Bob Iger, the former chief executive and chairman of the Walt Disney Company, which controls ESPN, referring to tech companies’ bankroll.
The N.F.L Sunday Ticket shows off-market games. The ones that aren’t shown on local television. DirecTV lost $500 annually when they hosted the package – so they won’t be bidding this time. But the company did benefit from a reliable subscriber base of two million people.
Apple is considered to have the highest chance of winning the bid. But this deal is delayed by N.F.L. officials when they have to factor in N.F.L. Network, RedZone, and N.F.L.+ channels – the channels that the league runs.
For Apple, winning this bid is the top priority. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, met up with influential N.F.L. people to ensure they’d be supporting the company’s purchase. Of the people visited, we have Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and the Kraft family that owns the New England Patriots.
But Apple may not be able to take it. Since 2014, Amazon, ESPN+, and YouTube as been seeking for sports tickets to buy and are hungry for the N.F.L. Sunday Ticket. The decision will be finalized in a few months. “A number of companies are in a strong position to potentially land Sunday Ticket, but we still have a ways to go in this process,” said Brian Rolapp, the N.F.L.’s chief media and business officer.
Fans will still get to access the Sunday games on DirecTV, regardless of who wins the deal. But, they’d probably have to pay a double premium service from Apple, Amazon, ESPN+, or YouTube. Experts aren’t sure if this will be more than the $294 that DirecTV charges.
But these new companies are trying not to be cable television, like in the past. Cable TV has lost around 25 million homesteads, that traded for apps like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+.
Similar deals will be struck with N.F.L. Thursday night games, NBA, NASCAR, and MLB. And that’s not it. These companies are looking overseas, too – in leagues in Europe. Leagues like UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, and the English Premier League all sold their streaming rights to Amazon.
Although ESPN and Turner would be able to hold most streaming rights for NBA, big tech companies may get to edge in with a small portion of the rights.
Media companies may have to expand and buy each other if they want to compete with the new tech giants in their pool. If they don’t, then they wouldn’t be able to survive in this new scrambled chaos anymore.
“It comes down to a Silicon Valley ego thing,” Mr. Cohen said of the high-dollar N.F.L. deal. “I don’t see a road to profitability. I see a road to victory.”