Apple TV Plus has long been touted as a possible home for the NFL's Sunday Ticket package, whose DirecTV rights expire in 2023. In fact, in April, it was "Apple's to lose."

Now, however, the company has reportedly backed out of negotiations on the grounds that it "makes no sense."

This is the story of Dylan Byers of Puck News (opens in new tab)." I am now hearing that Apple, once seen as the prime candidate for the rights, has also backed out of those negotiations - not because they can't afford it, but because they see no logic," he writes.

Byers does not elaborate on this, but reading between the lines, it likely has to do with the restrictions the NFL would place on such a deal; as 9to5Mac (opens in new tab) notes, the reported restrictions include the NFL's other broadcasts with CBS and Fox include geographic blocks and minimum subscription fees to ensure that the agreement is not undermined.

These are not compromises Apple had to make when it signed a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer; the MLS deal allows Apple TV to stream games in over 100 countries in multiple languages.

Byers said this development leaves two likely buyers for Sunday Ticket: Amazon and Google. Amazon and Google," he said. 'Amazon could use it to promote its Prime subscription, and Google could use it to promote its YouTube TV business. [If so, the NFL will either have to relax its restrictions or accept that the bidding war is not as exciting as expected.

Byers pours cold water on the always unlikely idea that Apple might buy Disney.

"From what I have been told by solid sources, it is not on the table at this time," Byers wrote. The regulatory environment makes it impossible, of course, and Apple doesn't want to be in the theme park/cruise business anyway, much less manage the inexorable decline of linear assets."