Report: NFL thinks ‘Sunday Ticket’ deal will generate $3 billion per year

Feb 6, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; The NFL shield logo is seen at midfield before the Pro Bowl football game at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL on Thursday announced that it has reached a deal with a new carrier for the “Sunday Ticket” package.

Beginning next season, Google’s YouTube will offer the NFL Sunday Ticket package. The deal is estimated to be for $2 billion per season. But the league reportedly expects its Sunday Ticket deals to generate $3 billion per year, according to a report.

Forbes’ Mike Ozanian reported Thursday that the NFL is telling teams they will eventually get $3 billion per year.

The NFL is telling team owners that it believes its Sunday Ticket deal with YouTube will be worth an average of $3b a year after its sells its non-residential rights and including the revenue-sharing agreement it has with YouTube once certain subscriber levels are met. #NFL

— Mike Ozanian (@MikeOzanian) December 22, 2022

What could push the revenue from $2 billion to $3 billion? Apparently two things.

One, the NFL still plans to reach a deal with DirecTV to sell non-residential rights to the package. For instance, these rights would be for sports bars and other similar venues that have multiple TVs showing games. The other revenue could come through revenue sharing with Google.

Apparently the Sunday Ticket deal with Google has certain subscriber benchmarks built in that would trigger revenue sharing between the NFL and the technology company. The NFL believes its Sunday Ticket presence will help boost TV subscriber numbers for Google overall, which would lead to some revenue sharing for the league.

DirecTV reportedly had just under 2 million subscribers for the Sunday Ticket package. Another interesting aspect of the deal is how the Red Zone Channel will be affected.