STORY: In a deal that accelerates the move of sports to streaming platforms from traditional TV and underscores football’s enduring allure, YouTube said it signed a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar deal to exclusively stream the National Football League's Sunday Ticket package of games in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that YouTube – which is owned by Google – will pay an average price of about $2 billion a year to secure rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket franchise, a subscription-based service that allows viewers to watch all Sunday NFL games from anywhere.

YouTube said that, starting next season, NFL Sunday Ticket will be available as a paid, add-on package on YouTube TV and standalone a-la-carte on YouTube Primetime Channels.

Sports has remained one of the biggest and most reliable attractions for live viewing, even as U.S. audiences are cutting their pay TV subscriptions and migrating to streaming services.

YouTube will be taking over from DirecTV, which had the rights to Sunday Ticket until the end of the 2022 season.

In a statement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he was "excited to bring NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels and usher in a new era of how fans across the United States watch and follow the NFL," adding that the partnership was an example of "looking towards the future and building the next generation of NFL fans."

The NFL is the most prized sports media asset in the U.S.

In March of 2021, the NFL said it reached long-term media deals with Amazon.com and major broadcast and cable companies that run through 2033. The deals could be worth over $100 billion, according to CNBC. Fox will air the Super Bowl in February.