According to Front Office Sports, Apple is looking to secure a large package of National Football League (NFL) digital rights (FOS).
The NFL is currently accepting bids for its Sunday Ticket domestic out-of-market rights package, as well as a stake in the league’s in-house media operation and US mobile streaming rights. Verizon currently owns the latter until the end of the season.
According to the FOS report, Apple is considering a deal for all three of those NFL offerings, which would unnerve rival Amazon, which was previously reported to be the frontrunner for a 49 percent stake in NFL Media.
The NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and the NFL.com digital platform are all managed by the league’s in-house media company, potentially opening up a slew of content for Apple’s various platforms.
According to a January investor note from Wedbush, Apple has ‘roughly US$200 billion of cash on its balance sheet,’ and it’s ‘gearing up to bid on a number of upcoming sports packages coming up for contract/renewals in future years.’ The NFL’s media properties would be among the targets for the iPhone manufacturer, according to the note.
Apple has also been linked to a bid for a midweek package of live Major League Baseball (MLB) games, and was previously rumored to be in talks over Pac-12 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) streaming rights.
