Could NFL Opt Out Of DirecTV Sunday Ticket Deal After '19?

The NFL has the "power to pull the plug on the Sunday Ticket arrangement with DirecTV," and if exercised, the contract "would expire" after the '19 regular season, according to Mike Florio of PRO FOOTBALL TALK. A source said that despite some speculation of a "looming announcement that the league will exit the DirecTV deal early," the decision "isn’t final, and that the league ultimately may decide to stick with the current deal." The question for the league to address is "whether streaming has overtaken satellite." The league "could do both, selling the global streaming and satellite rights for Sunday Ticket to, for example, one of the major tech companies, which could then carve out the satellite rights and sell them, maybe back to DirecTV" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 9/30). DirecTV currently pays the NFL around $1.5B per season (THE DAILY).