Apple seems to have quit the negotiations for NFL Sunday Ticket streaming rights, according to a new report from Dylan Byers at Puck News. After months of negotiations, Apple seems to have left the table because it doesn't see a deal working in its favor.
The negotiations have been ongoing for a while now, with Apple being a part of the discussion. However, according to this new report, Apple may be done with the conversation. We had previously reported about Apple not being interested in simply being a streaming service for the games, and it looks like the inflexibility may have caused Apple to lose interest.
No NFL on Apple TV Plus anytime soon, it appears
The report says that Apple left the negotiations because it didn't see the logic. The Sunday Ticket gives access to all NFL out-of-market Sunday games, and while the asking price was high, Apple could have afforded it with ease, were there some flexibilities to the deal with regards to international streaming rights and the fact that Apple TV+ might have had to increase the subscription price because NFL would demand so.
Dylan Byers said, "The companies that can afford to pay sky-high prices for sports are, of course, the big tech firms. So with each new round of rights negotiations we’re going to see Apple, Amazon, and Google take a greater slice of the pie while legacy mediacos get boxed out. You mentioned ESPN; the current bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket is a perfect example of an area where they just can’t compete anymore, because they can’t justify the expense. I’m now told that Apple, once seen as a frontrunner for the rights, has also backed out of those negotiations—not because they can’t afford it, but because they don’t see the logic. So it’s down to Amazon and Google, and there’s certainly a logic there for both companies: Amazon can use it to drive Prime subscriptions; Google can use it to fuel its YouTube TV business."
So it looks like Amazon or Google may take up the deal now. Both companies have their services ready for the package, and you likely will be able to watch the games on these services on the best Apple TV devices, but just not via Apple TV Plus, unless Apple changes its mind.
