Tag Archives: National Football League

NFL reportedly wants Apple to be the next home for Sunday Ticket

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The NFL's long-standing Sunday Ticket partnership with DirecTV is coming to an end, following an eight-year agreement the two reached in 2014. The viewing package is probably on the move and the league has reportedly picked its preferred new home for Sunday Ticket: Apple.

It doesn't seem likely that DirecTV, which has been one of the NFL's main TV partners for nearly three decades, will renew its deal. The NFL is looking for north of $2 billion per year for Sunday Ticket rights, according to The Athletic, which is at least $500 million more than the satellite company is currently paying the league.

DirecTV has long been losing money on the package. It needs 5 million Sunday Ticket subscribers to cover the current fees, though CNBC reported the figure has been closer to 2 million on average. Combined with a sense that the NFL is diluting Sunday Ticket's value by shifting more games to other days, that doesn't exactly make reupping the deal an attractive proposition for DirecTV and parent company AT&T.

As such, potential suitors with deeper pockets appear to be stepping up. Apple, Disney/ESPN and Amazon, which will start streaming Thursday Night Football games on Prime Video next season, are among those who have reportedly shown interest.

It'll likely be several months before the Sunday Ticket bidding process is over, but Apple looks like the frontrunner. The Athletic reports that Apple is considering offering games on a more ad-hoc basis. It could let fans buy their own team's out-of-market games or even shell out for standalone games.

One factor in Amazon's favor is it has more experience than Apple when it comes to live sports. The company has streamed New York Yankees, Seattle Sounders, WNBA and some NFL games, as well as ATP tennis events.

Twitter’s extended NFL deal adds live Spaces chats with players

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Twitter has once again renewed its deal with the NFL, and this time there's more than just video shows and Moments to keep football fans happy. The newly announced multi-year extension includes a commitment to produce over 20 live Spaces audio chats for the 2021 season. You'll hear players and "other NFL talent" discuss regular season matches as well as major events like the draft and Super Bowl.

The new agreement also includes new highlights and more polls. You can also expect familiar experiences that include on-the-field coverage and Moments.

This could be welcome news if you want to follow football on Twitter in between games, not just during or after matches.

It may be particularly important for Twitter, too. This is the social network's first sports league of any kind to produce sponsored Spaces — the feature just got significant boosts to both its credibility and revenue. It also helps Twitter compete against Clubhouse, which unveiled its NFL deal in April. Don't be surprised if Twitter rushes to land Spaces deals with other leagues, especially if Clubhouse becomes more of a threat.

Twitter’s extended NFL deal adds live Spaces chats with players

Posted on by

Twitter has once again renewed its deal with the NFL, and this time there's more than just video shows and Moments to keep football fans happy. The newly announced multi-year extension includes a commitment to produce over 20 live Spaces audio chats for the 2021 season. You'll hear players and "other NFL talent" discuss regular season matches as well as major events like the draft and Super Bowl.

The new agreement also includes new highlights and more polls. You can also expect familiar experiences that include on-the-field coverage and Moments.

This could be welcome news if you want to follow football on Twitter in between games, not just during or after matches.

It may be particularly important for Twitter, too. This is the social network's first sports league of any kind to produce sponsored Spaces — the feature just got significant boosts to both its credibility and revenue. It also helps Twitter compete against Clubhouse, which unveiled its NFL deal in April. Don't be surprised if Twitter rushes to land Spaces deals with other leagues, especially if Clubhouse becomes more of a threat.

Amazon Prime Video adds on-demand replays for Thursday Night Football

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When the NFL's Thursday Night Football block returns to Amazon Prime Video on October 8th, you'll have a new way to keep up with everything that happens during a game. If you want to rewatch a segment of play, you won't have to wait for the broadcast...

Microsoft Teams will bring fans into NFL stadiums virtually

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Just like the NBA, the NFL will use Microsoft Teams to bring fans into stadiums (albeit virtually) when the season starts tonight. A mosaic of virtual spectators will be displayed on LED screens in stadiums and on broadcasts during key games.Each gam...

Facebook Watch gets more NFL highlights, news and analysis

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The National Football League isn't done teaming up with tech companies. Today, the NFL announced it is extending its partnership with Facebook, a deal that began back in 2017, which will continue to bring highlights of all 256 regular season games, p...

The NFL’s new TikTok account is all about highlights and sideline moments

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The National Football League is hyping up its 100th season with a TikTok partnership. Today, the NFL is launching an official TikTok account with packaged highlights, sideline moments and behind-the-scenes footage. To get things started, it's promoti...

NFL celebrates 100th season with Snapchat AR Lens that comes to life

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The National Football League and Snap have made another augmented reality experience together. In celebration of the NFL's 100th season, which kicks off on September 5th, the companies are unveiling an AR Lens that lets people scan an NFL 100 logo an...