Apple Apparently Wants to Offer NFL Sunday Ticket to Apple TV+ Subscribers at No Extra Cost, But NFL Balks

Apple has yet to solidify a deal for the NFL Sunday Ticket package and talks could expand into 2023, according to a new report from Sportico (via The Verge).

nfl sunday ticket feature
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday that the negotiations for Sunday Ticket have reached a "very critical point," with Apple the apparent frontrunner for the rights. The NFL had originally planned to establish a deal in the fall, but the end of the year is approaching and no final terms have been decided as of yet. Goodell said that there is no timeline, and the NFL's decisions are "based on getting the best outcome with the best party."

Sportico says that pricing on Sunday Ticket is a sticking point. Apple wants to include Sunday Ticket access in the $6.99 cost of an Apple TV+ subscription, with no additional charges, but the NFL is not happy with such a low price point as it needs to "protect the interests" of CBS and Fox, its Sunday afternoon broadcast partners. Together, the two networks will pay the NFL $40 billion for the 2023 season.

Disney and Amazon are also both interested in Sunday Ticket, so there are other options for the NFL. Rumors have suggested for months that Apple is the "likely winner" of the NFL Sunday Ticket package, but there were signs of negotiation issues earlier this year when CNBC reported that Apple wanted more contractual flexibility than the NFL was interested in providing.

Apple has been ramping up its sports offerings in recent months in an effort to draw more subscribers to ‌Apple TV+‌. The company partnered with the MLB for "Friday Night Baseball," and it has inked a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer that is set to kick off next year.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...

Top Rated Comments

dohspc Avatar
21 months ago
What does it matter what Apple charges as long as they pay the NFL the billions to carry it? NFL is a huge money grab.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
21 months ago

the NFL is not happy with such a low price point as it needs to "protect the interests" of CBS and Fox
This sounds like something a mob boss would say.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Thunderstrike76 Avatar
21 months ago

Maybe Apple is including this as a free trail and NFL is throwing a fit. Of course, they want streamline money.
Hi. Not to be rude but are you actually the person in your profile pic or have you for some reason just been ripping off the same persons pics for years pretending they are yours?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ScoobyDoo178 Avatar
21 months ago

If Sunday Ticket is so cheap, more people will get it and watch games on that instead of on regular TV, hurting those networks' ratings and advertising revenue.
If the game is available on the local CBS and FOX channels, it would be blacked out on Sunday Ticket, so I do not see what the NFL is worried about.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BradWI Avatar
21 months ago

What does it matter what Apple charges as long as they pay the NFL the billions to carry it? NFL is a huge money grab.
If Sunday Ticket is so cheap, more people will get it and watch games on that instead of on regular TV, hurting those networks' ratings and advertising revenue.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
21 months ago
This would be fantastic but I doubt Apple will eat the cost of what the NFL wants them to pay. I would subscribe to TV+ again for this because it would be a great deal.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)