What you need to know
- Report claims Apple is the "likely winner" of NFL broadcasting rights.
- The deal would cost Apple an estimated $3 billion.
- The UEFA Champions League may be Apple's next target after NFL.
A new report from Puck News claims that Apple and the NFL are closing in on a deal for the Cupertino giant to have right to broadcast NFL games. While Amazon and Disney have also tried to secure the rights, Puck News calls Apple the "most likely winner."
While initial estimates put the price for the lucrative deal at around $2 billion, the report reveals that the final price looks closer to $3 billion—no word on what price Apple would set for the package if it were to acquire the rights. DirecTV currently holds the rights and sells packages starting at around $290.
From football to footy — UEFA Champions League could be next
That's not all! The report claims that Apple may be already looking into other deals with different sports leagues and names explicitly the UEFA Champions League as a potential target. That deal would likely be somewhere between $2 - $2.5 billion.
This isn't Apple's first foray into sports, as earlier this year, we've seen Apple getting into Friday Night Baseball in a deal with Major League Baseball, and it's already trying it's had at soccer with Major League Soccer as well. Both deals were quite significant but very different in structure. Particularly the MLS deal will see Apple selling a separate subscription service rather than bundling it in with Apple TV+ like the MLB games are. Notably, the MLS deal is unique in the fact that Apple has the right to broadcast every game with no local blackouts at all.
