Report: Apple Eyeing NFL Media, Sunday Ticket in Multibillion-Dollar Package Deal

With the NFL taking offers for three assets, Apple is reportedly eyeing a stake in all of them.

The tech giant wants NFL Media, the NFL Sunday Ticket package and livestreaming for games on mobile devices in a multibillion dollar deal, according to Michael McCarthy and A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports.

“Apple is thinking very big. They want to roll them all up into one big NFL package,” a source told Front Office Sports.

The NFL is "intrigued about getting into business" with Apple, which would instantly become one of the NFL's largest partners if it were to come to terms for all three assets. 

Sports media consultant Ed Desser told Front Office Sports: 

“I can definitely see why [Apple] would be attractive for the NFL. You do have to question Apple’s pedigree in sports: It’s not exactly their thing. But that’s the sort of thing you can buy or develop. Even Amazon, the first few years it carried ‘Thursday Night Football,’ used somebody else’s feed, not Amazon employees.”

The news comes after John Ourand of Sports Business Journal (h/t ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio) reported earlier this week that Apple and Amazon were the top two contenders for the Sunday Ticket package. 

The cost of Sunday Ticket alone could be more than $2 billion per year, according to Ourand.

Apple doesn't have live content, so it's unclear how well it would do broadcasting NFL games. However, the company has been making a big push for sports broadcasting rights. 

According to Front Office Sports, Apple has talked to Major League Baseball about carrying games in 2023. In addition, analyst Dan Ives predicted the company will spend "billions" on the rights to live sports, including the NFL, the Pac-12 and the WNBA. 

However, it's shaping up to be a tough competition, as Amazon, Disney and other companies are also looking for broadcasting rights.