Apple vying for streaming rights of Thursday night NFL games

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Apple is among a group of tech giants vying for the rights to stream Thursday night NFL games, reports Variety. The NFL said on Monday it has reached a two-year agreement with CBS and NBC for broadcast rights, and it’s been in active discussions with potential partners for digital rights.

According to Variety’s sources, Apple is among those potential partners, as are Amazon, Google and Verizon Communications. The League is said to be considering a variety of scenarios, including potentially selling the rights to more than one distributor, and mixing in games played overseas.

Tonight’s report follows a similar one from Reuters in early January, in which the outlet claimed that Apple was in talks with the NFL over the rights to live-stream 3 London games next year. A deal for Thursday night games, however, would be far more significant, given that they’re primetime.

It’s not hard to imagine why Apple is interested in streaming live NFL games. The company just released a new set-top box and is said to be working on its own over-the-top television service. The average audience for Thursday Night Football games in 2015 was estimated to be 17.6 million viewers.

Source: Variety