NFL and DirecTV Extend NFL Sunday Ticket with New Multiyear Agreement

The NFL announced a new eight-year licensing agreement with DirecTV for exclusive rights to its Sunday Ticket package on Wednesday.

The deal continues a long-running agreement between the NFL and the United States' largest satellite service provider. DirecTV has carried Sunday Ticket since its inception two decades ago, using the agreement as a platform to lure new subscribers. In recent years DirecTV has offered a free year's subscription to Sunday Ticket as part of a two-year coverage agreement with customers. 

Sunday Ticket offers out-of-market games in exchange for a yearly subscription fee. Under the new agreement, which ESPN's Darren Rovell reports will pay the NFL $1.5 billion per season, DirecTV will continue to expand its exclusive licensing rights with the DirecTV Fantasy Zone.

Having debuted for the 2014 season, DirecTV Fantasy Zone offers real-time analysis from a fantasy-only perspective.

“This new agreement is a testament to the terrific long-term relationship we have with the NFL and its millions of fans across the country,” DirecTV chairman Mike White said in a statement. “NFL Sunday Ticket has always been the centerpiece of DirecTV’s sports leadership and we’re pleased to continue our relationship with the NFL and be a part of the league’s future growth and success.”

The new agreement has been expected for some time. John Ourand and Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal reported in August that the two sides were nearing an agreement, though details were still being worked out. There were some initial questions as to whether DirecTV would continue to pay the premium for exclusive rights to Sunday Ticket—another possibility was having it a la carte on multiple cable services, like the NFL RedZone channel—but the two sides eventually came to an amenable middle ground.

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“We are pleased to continue our partnership with DirecTV,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in the statement. “DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket have served our fans well for 20 years and continue to complement our broadcast television packages. We also appreciate DirecTV’s commitment to NFL Network, which it has carried since the channel launched in 2003.”

The NFL came to long-term agreements with CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN on new deals in 2011. ESPN's Monday Night Football package generates $1.9 billion of yearly revenue, while the three broadcast networks pay roughly $1 billion per season. 

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As noted by Ourand and Kaplan, the new DirecTV deal will allow the NFL to approach $7 billion in annual revenue off licensing agreements alone when including its massive deal with Verizon. (The NFL is also in a one-year agreement with CBS for its Thursday Night Football package, worth $275 million.)

Goodell set an annual revenue goal of $25 billion for the year 2027 four years ago. The league's current revenue is roughly $9.5 billion, per CNN, most of which comes from these broadcast agreements. With there being no ceiling in sight to the amount of money networks will pay to broadcast NFL games, the goal may not sound so outlandish eight years from now.

All of the NFL's current broadcast agreements, with the exception of Monday Night Football, are due to expire in 2022. ESPN and the NFL's contract ends in 2021.

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