Amazon the 'front-runner' to land NFL 'Sunday Ticket' package?

The NFL announced back in May that Amazon will be paying approximately $1.2 billion per year to become the exclusive home of "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts beginning next season.

It appears Amazon isn't done yet. 

According to Alex Sherman of CNBC, Amazon is now viewed by some as "the front-runner" to land the rights to the NFL "Sunday Ticket" out-of-market package after the league's agreement with DirecTV expires following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. "Sunday Ticket" has been a DirecTV commodity for the past 27 years, but Amazon could be willing to pay somewhere around $2-2.5 billion to change that. 

Additionally, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC an interested party may be asked to invest in NFL Network and the widely-popular NFL RedZone channel. 

Disney (ESPN) and Apple are also reportedly interested in "Sunday Ticket." DirecTV, meanwhile, may not be able to compete with those entities in a bidding war, and CNBC adds DirecTV has lost money on the NFL service "for many years."

The NFL is set to earn roughly $10 billion per year from media rights deals that start with "TNF" shifting to Amazon. Having "Sunday Ticket" on a streaming service would allow diehard fans and new customers to enjoy the product without having to subscribe to a full-time cable or satellite television package, which understandably appeals to the NFL at a time when so many are "unplugging" from traditional TV.