Technologies

NFL Sunday Ticket Rights May Be Heading to Google’s YouTube TV, Report Claims

YouTube TV may soon become the exclusive home of the NFL’s valuable Sunday Ticket package.

Google could be ready for a lot of football. According to a report Tuesday night from The Wall Street Journal, the search giant is in «advanced talks» to acquire the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. The report says that a deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday.

The NFL declined to comment. Google did not immediately respond to a CNET request for comment.

If the deal does come to fruition, Google would be taking over the Sunday Ticket rights from DirecTV, which has been the exclusive home of the package since 1994. The satellite provider has paid the league over $1.5 billion annually in recent years for Sunday Ticket, often using the NFL games as a way to lure and retain subscribers.

The Journal reports that the Sunday Ticket package would be available to stream as an add-on either through YouTube TV, Google’s $65-per-month streaming TV service, as well as through YouTube Primetime Channels. Announced in November, the latter service is Google’s way of offering premium content from providers like Starz, Showtime, Epix and Paramount Plus directly on YouTube.

It is unclear what Google might charge for Sunday Ticket. For a full season, DirecTV has previously priced the service at roughly $300 for the base Sunday Ticket service, or $400 for a «Max» version that included extra channels like RedZone.

Reports have previously indicated that the NFL was looking for $2.5 billion annually for Sunday Ticket in its new deal, and while that’s a lofty sum for content, the high price tag reportedly didn’t stop Apple, Amazon or Disney from joining the bidding for the rights. Amazon is said to be paying the NFL $1 billion per year to be the exclusive home for Thursday Night Football games this fall.

Unlike the Amazon deal, which streams its games on Amazon-owned Prime Video and Twitch platforms, Sunday Ticket does not stop you from watching your local CBS or Fox Sunday broadcasts on TV.

As an out-of-market option, it allows for watching games that are being broadcast in other parts of the country but are not necessarily on your local stations. If you live in Miami, for example, and the Chargers game against the Broncos isn’t airing on your local CBS affiliate, you can watch it on YouTube through Sunday Ticket.

Like DirecTV, YouTube TV is a live television service and offers all the major local channels including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC as well as the NFL Network. While Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV won’t let you get the games that air on streaming services like Amazon or ESPN Plus, it could make Google’s television service a go-to destination to stream nearly all the NFL action you want.

Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.