Apple in Talks With NFL for Sunday Ticket Streaming

Apple is interested in streaming rights for the National Football League's "Sunday Ticket" package, reports The Information. Apple has had discussions with NFL executives, but the NFL is also speaking with TV networks and other tech firms as well.

nfl sunday ticket
Sunday Ticket streaming content currently airs on DirecTV, but it is up for auction and should Apple acquire the rights, out-of-market fans will be able to watch non-prime time games from all 32 NFL teams on Apple TV+.

DirecTV pays somewhere around $1.5 billion to broadcast the Sunday Ticket games, but its deal with the NFL expires in 2022, paving the way for other networks to bid on the package. The NFL is looking to get more money when establishing a new deal.

ESPN parent company Disney is said to be interested in acquiring the rights for the ESPN streaming service, and according to The Information, Apple is not seen as a serious contender for the rights because it has been reluctant to invest money in entertainment programming.

That said, Apple has an ongoing relationship with the National Football League, and in 2020, hired James DeLorenzo to run a sports division for ‌Apple TV‌+. DeLorenzo previously negotiated Amazon's deal with the NFL to stream live games.

Apple previously held talks with the Pac-12 conference about live streaming college sports, but nothing ever came of those talks and there continues to be little sports-related content on ‌Apple TV‌+.

Acquiring the rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket package would draw a wider audience to ‌Apple TV‌+, appealing to those who live away from their favorite football teams.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...
amazon black friday

Amazon Kicks Off Black Friday Sale With Major Discounts on Apple Accessories, TVs, and More

Sunday November 23, 2025 7:12 am PST by
Black Friday deals have begun, and Amazon is one of the best places you can find steep discounts on numerous products this week. We've already collected all of the best Apple-related deals you'll find at Amazon (and other retailers) in our Apple Black Friday Deals post, so below you'll find other discounts on devices like Anker accessories, Beats headphones, video games, TVs, and more. Note:...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...

Top Rated Comments

dba415 Avatar
57 months ago
The NFL sucks with their exclusive deals. How they ruined ESPN NFL 2K by signing the exclusive deal with Madden will always anger me
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blairh Avatar
57 months ago
Remove it from Direct TV. Needs to be on a streaming service.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CWallace Avatar
57 months ago
I expect Disney (ESPN) and Amazon to bid hard for this, so Apple might feel that if the "going price" is, say, $3 billion it might not be worth it compared to spending that $3 billion on additional original programming.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lsutigerfan1976 Avatar
57 months ago
Honestly. All I care about is NFL redzone. I could do without anything else. Just let me subscribe to Redzone.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icwhatudidthere Avatar
57 months ago
This may be turn out to be unfounded but I really hope we don't see price increases to add sports.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
57 months ago
Smart use of what would be basically pocket change for Apple.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)