Wunderlich Securities Sees Extended NFL Sunday Ticket Deal As Good For DirecTV

In a report published Tuesday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan reiterated a Hold rating and $95.00 price target on

. In the report, Wunderlich Securities noted, “Sports Business Journal reported prior to the close yesterday that Hold-rated DirecTV (DTV) and the NFL are close to reaching an agreement on a new Sunday Ticket deal that may run through 2021-2022, placing the duration more in sync with other broadcast rights. The average annual price is supposedly increasing to $1.3-1.4bn from $1.0bn, certainly within the scope of what we had envisioned, and rising at a mid-single-digit percentage annually. This result conforms with CEO Mike White's prior confidence in continued exclusivity, and satisfies a condition on the AT&T (T-NR) deal agreement. We are pleased by the duration of the deal, as we had expected the NFL to want to retain multiple degrees of freedom on benefiting from digital streaming rights, which the agreement presumably encompasses.” DirecTV closed on Monday at $85.47.