YouTube reaches deal to buy NFL Sunday Ticket

The Sunday Ticket bundle may prove to be a boon for YouTube, which has been eager to expand its subscriptions because its main business — advertising — has gone down. Football games can attract more sports fans to YouTube TV, which is already the most popular pay-TV service on the Internet. The company said in July that it did Five million subscriberssurpassing Hulu + Live TV.

YouTube gets the bulk of its revenue from advertising on videos uploaded by users. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported in October that stubborn inflation and a slowing economy had prompted advertisers to cut back on spending, causing YouTube ad sales to shrink nearly 2% in the past quarter.

The disappointing results gave added urgency to a years-old plan to expand YouTube in other ways. The company said in November that it had done so 80 million paying subscribers for its ad-free premium music and services, up from 50 million a year ago.

The deal caps years of industry speculation about who will get the coveted game package that began in 2019 when John Stankey, chief operating officer of former DirecTV owner AT&T, said the company was. rethinking Its deal for a Sunday ticket.

It became clear that the package would go to a technology company in July, when Mr. Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, said: He said in an interview that the streaming service is “best for consumers”. Apple, Amazon and YouTube emerged as the most likely candidates, and the three companies vied for the rights.

Recently, Apple — long considered the frontrunner — decided to abandon its quest. As negotiations dragged on, Apple became suspicious that the Sunday Ticket bundle was worth what the NFL was after, and ended serious talks about a potential deal, a person familiar with the deal said.

Instead, Apple has focused its attention on Completed halftime show sponsorship deal for the 2023 Super Bowl, which it believes will raise the profile of its Apple Music service.

Trip Mickle Contribute to the preparation of reports.