Apple does not plan on bidding for the digital streaming rights to the NFL Thursday Night Football package, Re/code reports. The NFL sent out a requests for proposal (RFP) to several major digital media players back in December, offering non-exclusive rights to stream the entire Thursday Night Football package online.
While earlier reports suggested Apple was planning to put in a bid, it now appears that Apple has decided to bow out of the bidding process on the basis that the sports package would not be enough to set the Apple TV or any future streaming media service apart from the competition. Other companies, including Facebook, Amazon, Verizon, and Yahoo, are reportedly still interested and will likely submit bids.
No information or even speculation is available on what the digital rights package will sell for, however the report notes that NBC and CBS each paid $225 million to air the Thursday Night games on their television networks, a deal that also gives them the rights to stream those games on their own online platforms.
.
