YouTube exec who pursued NFL media rights dies

Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube CEO who helped bring NFL Sunday Ticket to the channel, died Friday at age 56.

Her husband, Dennis Troper, announced the news via Facebook . Wojcicki had battled lung cancer for two years.

Wojcicki had a giant presence in the tech industry. She was one of the first employees of Google back in 1999, serving as the company’s first marketing executive. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin operated the company for a time out of Wojcicki’s garage in Menlo Park, California.

Through the years, Wojcicki took on a more prominent role, leading the launch of Google Video in 2005, and a year later supervising the purchase of the fledgling YouTube.

She became YouTube CEO in 2014, and led the company to explosive growth in her nine-year tenure. Wojcicki oversaw the launch of YouTube TV, which now has more than 8 million customers. She made the new venture a player in sports media rights, negotiating the 2022 acquisition of Sunday Ticket with a seven-year deal reportedly worth more than $2 billion per year.

Wojcicki also had eyes on the Thursday Night Football streaming package at one point, saying in 2018 she’d “love to stream the NFL.” Amazon Prime eventually landed an 11-year, $11 billion deal with the NFL for those rights.

YouTube TV also blazed a trail for other streaming services seeking sports rights. In 2018, the company landed broadcast rights for the MLS’ Los Angeles FC, the first time a streaming service acquired such a deal with a U.S. pro sports team.

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai paid tribute to Wojcicki on X early Saturday.

“Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her.” Pichai wrote. “She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous impact on the world and I’m one of countless Googlers who is better for knowing her. We will miss her dearly. Our thoughts with her family. RIP Susan.”

[ Variety.com ]

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