It had been reported for months that Apple was a frontrunner to land NFL Sunday Ticket and a share of the NFL's Media properties. Last week, Puck News broke the story that a deal is done, but that Apple has asked the NFL to keep the deal under wraps for now.
Former ESPN boss John Skipper was a guest with Dan Le Batard on Monday's edition of South Beach Sessions. Skipper, who runs Meadowlark Media with Le Batard, said Apple is smart for targeting the service.
"I think that owning NFL's Sunday Ticket is one of the few ways to assure they drive more subscriptions (to Apple TV+), and I think that's what they're trying to do here, right?" Skipper said. "They're trying to become one of the big content providers, and the surest thing you can have is the NFL."
Skipper said the last deal he worked on at ESPN with the league for the rights to Monday Night Football, the network paid just under $2 billion for 17-18 games. If Apple ends up paying north of that per season to take over Sunday Ticket, Skipper said the deal alone won't be profitable.
"The reports are that they will pay $2.5 billion for Sunday Ticket and other NFL stuff," he said. "Do they receive $2.5 billion worth of subscription fees? They probably do not."
Skipper added that profitability isn't necessarily what's at the top of the list for Apple. He described live sports as "a loss leader" for several networks. The mega corporation essentially has a blank check to acquire rights to live sporting events. A deal with the NFL more about increasing brand awareness, stock prices and EBITDA.
No comments:
Post a Comment