Amazon Leading The Race For Stake In NFL's Media Properties

The NFL could soon be on the verge of selling a minority stake of its media properties.

Per Front Office Sports, Amazon is leading the way to acquire a 49 percent stake in NFL Network, RedZone and NFL.com. The NFL hired Goldman Sachs Group in June to find potential partners. Other media companies, however, are still in the bidding war. FOS's Michael McCarthy says a last-minute bid could push a final agreement back by several months.

The NFL and Amazon previously came to a $1 billion agreement for Amazon Prime Video to become the official home for Thursday Night Football beginning in 2022. TNF will now be accessible through an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $12.99 a month or $199 a year.

Amazon is also in the running for the NFL Sunday Ticket package. McCarthy says that Walt Disney Co., Paramount Plus and Apple among others are in the running. It's estimated the package could cost between $2 and $3 billion a year.

Ed Desser, president of Desser Media and former president of NBA Television and New Media Ventures, told FOS that Amazon has everything a company needs to acquire the package.

"I thought about tech companies and does check that box," Desser said. "I thought about companies who could bring something to the party that's special or different. That's another checkmark for Amazon.

"It's fair to say that I expected it to be more of a financially oriented player. If you are in the business of generating capital for investment, it's nice to have somebody like the NFL on your list."

The 2021 season will be the last of the "tri-cast" of Amazon, FOX and NFL Network airing TNF games.