The NFL has confirmed Google as the next distributor of “NFL Sunday Ticket.”

As part of the agreement, YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels have exclusive rights to distribute “NFL Sunday Ticket” in the U.S. starting with the 2023 season. The deal is reportedly worth an average $2 billion annually for seven seasons. 

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the price of the deal could increase if certain benchmarks are reached.
• The league will also reportedly look to license the commercial rights in restaurants and bars for another $200 million.
• The deal could be worth more — as much as $3 billion annually —  including the revenue-sharing agreement it has with YouTube for meeting certain subscriber levels and if the NFL sells its non-residential rights, according to one report.

DirecTV, which has had exclusive rights since 1994, currently pays an average $1.5 billion per season for “NFL Sunday Ticket” residential and commercial rights. It could still retain the latter.

“Sunday Ticket” will be available on YouTube TV as an add-on package on two of YouTube’s subscription businesses — YouTube TV costs $64.99 per month before add-ons. “Sunday Ticket” will also be available separately on YouTube Primetime Channels.

Streaming Sundays

YouTube is now the presenting partner of “NFL Kickoff Weekend” and “Back Together Saturday.” As part of the agreement, the NFL and Google will offer exclusive access to “official content and attendance opportunities for select YouTube Creators” at NFL events.

The U.S. could host the 2030 Winter Olympics by default after another bid was called into question.

Japan is pausing its promotion of Sapporo’s bid while it reevaluates its stance on hosting.

• A bribery scandal related to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the pandemic, is causing Japan to question its appetite for hosting the Winter Games.
• In August, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board, Haruyuki Takahashi, was arrested on suspicion of receiving bribes from Olympic sponsors.
• Last month, Japanese police raided the offices of multiple advertising agencies as part of the investigation.

Japan may survey residents of Sapporo’s prefecture Hokkaido and possibly the entire country. A poll of Hokkaido residents from March found support for hosting between 52.2% and 65.5%, depending on how people were asked.

Pass the Salt Lake

With Japan’s bid in doubt, Salt Lake City could end up as the last potential host standing. Vancouver was also looking to host, but its status is in doubt after its province, British Columbia, pulled its support for the bid.

Salt Lake City would prefer to host the Winter Olympics in 2034, to create more separation from the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, but could host in 2030.

The International Olympic Committee postponed the decision to 2024 to consider a number of factors, including how climate change impacts the hosting viability of certain locations and the possibility of having cities host on a rotating basis.

The electric World Cup final between Argentina and France on Dec. 18 was one of the most wagered-on sporting events in the U.S. this year. 

Argentina’s victory over France on penalty kicks to capture its first World Cup since 1986 generated 7.9 million geolocation transactions, according to fraud and geolocation specialist GeoComply. 

• The World Cup was the second most wagered-on final behind Super Bowl LVI, which had 23.5 million geolocation checks in the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
• The men’s NCAA tournament championship, which saw Kansas edge North Carolina 72-69 — had 4.8 million geolocation transactions.
• The final game of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors had 5.1 million geolocation checks. 

The desire for sports fans to wager on the World Cup final came amid record viewership. 

The match drew 16.8 million viewers for the telecast on FOX — the most watched men’s World Cup game on English-language American television ever. 

Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo reportedly drew an additional 5.5 million viewers. 

Big Expectations 

The 2022 World Cup was projected to see $35 billion in wagers globally over the month-long tournament — a 65% increase compared to four years ago, according to Barclays analysts.

During the 2018 World Cup — which the USMNT didn’t qualify for — sports betting was legal for roughly 10 million Americans while this year’s tournament was legal for 132 million people.