The NFL is coming to Apple TV, but not in the way that most fans really want. A new NFL Now app is due later this month for Apple’s set-top box, and it promises to offer original content, game highlights, plenty of video from the NFL’s archives, and live streams for press conferences and other off-field events. That’s all well and good, but there’s no way to watch live games. And it won’t be coming. Not this year. DirecTV has outright said that Sunday Ticket won’t support Apple TV for the 2014 season. That hurts, and it’s especially disappointing since you can watch all of the NFL’s weekly action live pretty much everywhere else.
The NFL will be launching a new NFL Now service later this month, and it will be coming to the Apple TV with a dedicated application, according to an image of the app in testing taken by an NFL employee. NFL Now was introduced in January, and it is a personalized NFL content application with on-demand highlights, extensive archives, and news broadcasts. The launch will occur later this month in order for fans to prepare for the 2014-2015 NFL season, and a source says that the debut may even occur later this week. The NFL Now application will be the first app on the Apple TV dedicated to football, but, of course, NFL content has been previously available via application such as ESPN Now. NFL Now will also launch on the iOS App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and it will be available on the web and Apple TV competitors like the Roku and Xbox. The NFL will also be conducting a digital push for NFL Sunday Ticket this fall, but there have been no indications that Sunday Ticket will, too, arrive on the Apple TV.
