A new survey by The Streamable says that 40% of NFL fans would be willing to subscribe to a streaming service just to watch games.
And according to Dylan Byers at Puck News, Apple now has the best shot to get the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket as Disney has dropped out of the bidding.
The article says that the rights could go for up to more than US$2 billion per year. NFL Sunday Ticket is the NFL’s out-of-market package, which has recently aired on DirecTV. It’s separate from a slew of licensing deals recently completed between the NFL, most major broadcast TV networks and Amazon. Acquiring it would certainly attract more eyeballs to Apple TV+.
Byers adds that yers says that Apple and Amazon are also considering bids for a domestic package of UEFA Champions League games that could cost up to $2.5 billion over six years. The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final.
The Streamable surveyed 2,562 fans who regularly watch the NFL to better understand if a switch to streaming would produce a significant increase in Sunday Ticket subscribers and what price fans are willing to pay for this add-on. Where are some highlights from the report:
- Sunday Ticket’s subscriber base could grow significantly: Almost half (48%) of NFL fans definitely will or are likely to subscribe to Sunday Ticket when offered by a major streaming provider.
- Sunday Ticket’s winning bidder stands to pick up a huge number of first.-time subscribers: More than 40% of those that never subscribed before say they definitely will or are likely to subscribe
- Increased accessibility via a streaming service may not be enough though, it will have to be cheaper as well: Only 26% of fans willing to pay up to the current $300 base price.
- A base price offer of $150 – $200 could increase potential subscribers by 1.67x – 1.94x in comparison to the current $300 base price (which may require incentives or bundles if they can’t contractually drop the price).
- In comparison to fans of in-market teams, fans of out-of-market teams are:
- 66% more likely to be currently subscribed
- 191% more likely to state they definitely will subscribe
- 48% more likely to subscribe overall
- 195% more willing to pay the current price of Sunday Ticket
