AT&T plans to purchase DirecTV for $48.5 billion, which could make NFL Sunday Ticket more broadly available on mobile devices.

Making exclusive live NFL game programming available on AT&T smartphones could trump Verizon's deal with the NFL for certain live game streams on its phones, because NFL Sunday Ticket involves most NFL games, not just a handful on certain nights of the week.

Verizon's NFL Mobile deal enters its fifth season later this year after the two sides signed a multi-year extension last June.

DirecTV CEO Michael White said he's "confident" that it can renew its Sunday Ticket deal with the NFL after it expires at the end of the upcoming season.