What holds the current cable system and its uninterrupted inflation together is sports rights. Something like this actually happening would irreversibly jolt the system and transform it into something new, by finally allowing people to cut the cord to bundled packages:
And it is. Today, according to sources, Google CEO Larry Page, along with YouTube content boss Robert Kyncl, met with a delegation from the NFL led by commissioner Roger Goodell. And the Sunday Ticket package was among the topics of discussion, according to people familiar with the meeting.
A Google rep declined to comment, and I’m still waiting to hear back from an NFL rep.
An informal chat is a very long way from a deal, so there’s no need to invest too much in the conversation quite yet. And I’m told that Goodell and other NFL executives are meeting with multiple Silicon Valley companies on this trip, which is one they make annually.
That said, Google plus the NFL is an intriguing concept. Google could certainly afford the rights, which currently cost DirecTV $1 billion a year.
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