Report: Apple, Amazon 'front-runners' to win NFL 'Sunday Ticket' package

Much has been written and said about DirecTV's NFL "Sunday Ticket" out-of-market package agreement that is set to expire following the 2022 season. 

Ahead of the opening weekend of the past campaign, Amazon was mentioned as "the front-runner" to land "Sunday Ticket," while a later report claimed the league's new deal could allow fans to focus solely on one out-of-market club. By the middle of November, Disney had entered the bidding war amid its desire to add "Sunday Ticket" to its ESPN+ properties. 

On Friday, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal offered an update on talks and wrote that Apple and Amazon have pulled away from Disney as the front-runners among contenders to win the "Sunday Ticket" package. 

"The amount that Disney has told the NFL it will pay is said to be well below the amount Apple and Amazon have discussed," Ourand added. 

Ourand also reports DirecTV is working on obtaining a commercial license that will allow the company to sell "Sunday Ticket" to bars and restaurants, but Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reports the satellite provider will be "frozen out" of negotiations for the main package following its current arrangement with the league. 

For a piece published last Sunday, Florio wrote that "Sunday Ticket" will become "a full-blown streaming service" in 2023 and that "the winning bidder could pay as much as $7.5 billion per year" for a package that has reportedly cost DirecTV an annual average of around $1.5 billion through 2022. On Friday, though, Ourand said the NFL will "likely" get over $2 billion per year for "Sunday Ticket."