[X-spurt]

Don’t place any cash bets on this falling through. No way the NFL is going to turn off all those DirectTV viewers.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

No way the NFL is going to turn off all those DirectTV viewers.

A big chunk of those DirecTV viewers are there because NFL Sunday Ticket is there. If the NFL walks away, it won't be the NFL's loss - it'll be DirecTV's, and AT&T knows it.

So now we're down to the NFL preventing mergers which will reduce free-market competition.

[kevkrom]

Don’t place any cash bets on this falling through. No way the NFL is going to turn off all those DirectTV viewers.

Unless they think they can make more money without DirecTV exclusivity by selling enough subscriptions on other platforms that hey'll gain more than they'll lose in exclusivity fees with DirecTV - note that this isn't about whether DirecTV will continue to carry the NFL (unless someone else gets an exclusive bid in), it's about being the ONLY place to carry the full NFL package.

The NFL might be happier with no exclusivity deal, but to allow DirecTV, Dish, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, Adelphia, et. al., to all carry the package, plus direct streaming service (Roku, AppleTV, web streaming) subscription.

[discostu]

They wouldn’t turn them off, but they might not sell them Sunday Ticket anymore, and they also might make Sunday Ticket no longer exclusive to DirecTV.