NFL Sunday Ticket appears headed to Google/YouTube after being at DirecTV.

NFL Sunday Ticket could be on the move very soon.

The NFL streaming giant is reportedly “near a deal” to move to YouTube. News broke Tuesday night that Sunday Ticket could move to the Google platform from DirecTV, its handler since it first launched in 1994.

The Wall Street Journal reported the huge news. The WSJ’s Joe Flint tweeted, “WSJ is reporting that NFL is near a deal with Google’s YouTube for Sunday Ticket rights.”

According to Flint, an agreement could be reached as early as Wednesday.

The news is massive in the sports media world. Some anticipated Amazon or Apple as contenders for the Sunday Ticket packages. However, Apple wound up dropping out of the race and ESPN didn’t have any skin in the game either. By process of elimination, Google lands the package.

It’s a fascinating moment for DirecTV, as the package has been a perennial bargaining chip in the satellite TV and now the streaming world. Without it, the brand will simply need a new selling point. So it’s the end of an era.

Reactions poured in after the news broke. Twitter user @DYK88 shared a thought that had to be communal. “I would have no problem switching to YouTube TV to get the new Sunday Ticket….” they tweeted.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal offered an instant reaction to the news. Ourand tweeted, “Google/YouTube will have to carry ‘Sunday Ticket’ on a tier at a premium price, which will be similar to how DirecTV offers it currently. Google/YouTube can’t sell commercials around the games. CBS and Fox commercials will run int hose games even on Sunday Ticket.”

New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand delivered instant reactions also. Marchand tweeted, “If YouTube TV deal with NFL goes through, it will be in large part because Apple, ESPN and Amazon felt like the price was far too great for what they would have got.”

Marchand continued with another tweet on the situation. He tweeted, “This could be a very tough haul for YouTube TV because I’ve heard DirecTV has 1.5 million subscribers. YouTube TV will start at zer. That’s a lot of conversion it must do.”

Jimmy Traina of SI made a plea himself. Traina tweeted, “I don’t mind paying for Sunday Ticket. If they make it $500, I’ll pay $500. But I’m not subscribing to YouTubeTV in addition.”

[Joe Flint; The Wall Street Journal]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022