Google Is Favorite to Land NFL Sunday Ticket in Deal, per Report

Google’s Youtube is the likely new home of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package and is expected to pay $2.5 billion a year for the rights, according to The New York Times. An official announcement is expected Wednesday, per Sports Business Journal. 

Sunday Ticket is an out-of-market sports package that broadcasts NFL regular season games unavailable on local affiliates. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news on Tuesday. 

The $2.5 billion figure is $1 billion more than what DirectTV, which had the rights for years, currently pays and would bring the package into the streaming world for the first time. In addition, there could be additional payments based on the number of YouTube subscribers that Google is able to add. The length of the contract is unknown at this time. 

YouTube will stream the package via YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime channels. According to the Times, Sunday Ticket will be offered as a premium service to those subscribers at a cost that is similar to what DirecTV currently charges. DirecTV currently has around 1.5 million Sunday Ticket subscribers. 

In July, YouTube TV had more than five million subscribers and trial users of the product, which costs $64.99 a month.