Posted on 12/22/2022 8:17:38 AM PST by JSM_Liberty
The National Football League announced Thursday its Sunday Ticket subscription package would go to Google’s YouTube TV starting next season, marking the league’s second media rights deal with a streaming service.
YouTube TV will pay roughly $2 billion a year for the residential rights of the Sunday Ticket package, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal runs for seven years, one of the people said. The agreement will elevate YouTube’s profile in the competitive streaming space. At the start of the 2023-24 season, Sunday Ticket will be available two ways: as an add-on package on YouTube TV and as a standalone a-la-carte option on YouTube Primetime Channels, which allows you to subscribe to individual streaming services and channels as well as watch movies. Pricing hasn’t been determined.
“For a number of years we have been focused on increased digital distribution of our games and this partnership is yet another example of us looking towards the future and building the next generation of NFL fans,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in Thursday’s announcement.
DirecTV has had the rights to Sunday Ticket since its inception in 1994, paying $1.5 billion annually for them since the last renewal in 2014. The satellite-TV provider now has approximately 13.5 million customers, down significantly from the earlier days of the package’s offering due to cord-cutting, and had been losing $500 million annually on the package, one of the people said. DirecTV didn’t place a bid to keep its contract going. Still, it has been open to offering the games for commercial establishments, such as bars and restaurants, similar to its agreement with Amazon for “Thursday Night Football,” according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal with YouTube TV does not include commercial rights, which could boost the value of the package, and the NFL is still sorting that out, according to one of the people.
A U.S.-only product, Sunday Ticket is the only way fans can watch live NFL Sunday afternoon games outside of their local markets on broadcast stations CBS and Fox. It’s the last NFL package to land a media rights renewal. Last year, Paramount’s CBS, Fox and Comcast’s NBC agreed to pay more than $2 billion annually for 11-year packages, while Disney is paying about $2.7 billion per year for Monday Night Football, CNBC previously reported. The deal comes as the league has been pushing for to have its games on more streaming outlets. Goodell has said the league was pushing for Sunday Ticket to end up on a streaming service. “I think that’s best for consumers at this stage,” Goodell previously told CNBC.
Amazon secured the rights to “Thursday Night Football,” making it the first streaming-only platform to air NFL games, paying about $1 billion per year. Meanwhile, traditional broadcast partners like NBC and CBS simulcast games on their streaming services.
The league had been in negotiations for some time to find a new owner for Sunday Ticket. Apple, Amazon, and Disney’s ESPN were among interested bidders for the package at one point or another, CNBC previously reported.
YouTube TV is an internet bundle of broadcast and cable networks that mirrors a traditional linear pay-TV operator. Its base plan costs $64.99 a month. In July, Google announced YouTube TV surpassed 5 million customers, including trial subscriptions. YouTube Primetime Channels, which will be the a la carte option for Sunday Ticket, is a distribution platform similar to subscribing to networks and streaming services through Amazon’s Prime Channels.
To compare, Apple recently signed a 10-year deal for the rights to air Major League Soccer games. The tech giant recently announced the MLS Season Pass would launch in February, and would be available to fans on the Apple TV app for $14.99 a month per season. For subscribers of its streaming service, Apple TV+, which already pay $4.99 a month, they can sign up for $12.99 a month. In recent months, YouTube TV emerged as a strong contender for the rights, given it could provide a lot of what the league was hoping to achieve with a new Sunday Ticket partner – a technology platform with a large balance sheet and global reach, and the ability to support bundled legacy TV.
For a time, it seemed Apple was close to attaining the rights. The company has been expanding its sports footprint for its Apple TV+ streaming service. It recently inked a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer that begins in 2023, and last year began airing Friday night Major League Baseball games. However, discussions broke down due to existing restrictions around the Sunday Ticket rights, and Apple had wanted more flexibility with how to distribute the package, CNBC previously reported. Amazon had also been considered another top contender, considering it already airs “Thursday Night Football” games and is a streaming-only platform.
While those contests primarily air on Prime, DirecTV distributes the games commercially, in bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers. The two reached a multi-year deal before the season started. DirecTV is interested in delivering Sunday Ticket games in a similar capacity, people familiar with the matter have said.
“trying to watch any sports via steaming is ridiculous ... difficult or impossible to pause, backup, fast-forward, do your own replays, time-shift the game ... there’s no sports worth that hassle to watch ...”
As much as I hate Google, I have to give kudos to YoutubeTV. Their unlimited cloud DVR allows me to record all sports, movies and shows that I want simultaneously, and play them back any time within the next 9 months. Their remote has a built-in 15 second skip button so I can skip the commercials.
I automatically record all of my favorite sports teams that are on local broadcast TV or on their cable service ($65 per month) that requires no cable boxes or DVR and can be played on multiple devices at once. I usually wait a half hour before beginning to watch, allowing me to skip all of the commercials for the first half, then I take a break and come back for commercial free second half.
If you are still paying Comcast or another service for hard wired cable, and have reliable WiFi Internet service, take a closer look at YoutubeTV. It is considerably cheaper and the cloud DVR makes it way better than traditional cable. Note: You still need Internet service for any streaming TV.
If your TV isn’t a smart TV, you can buy an Amazon Fire Stick for about $30 and stream to any TV with an HDMI slot.
We’ve had DirecTV for 20 years, and most years had NFL Sunday Ticket.
Now, there is no reason to have either one. I won’t watch NFL on a computer screen or smartphone since I don’t have internet access at home or a cellphone.................
Somebody always winds up on the outside. Which is unfortunate for them. But the league has to look at the big picture. And that’s streaming. That’s where the future is. That’s where the eyeballs are. That’s where the money is. There was a similar uproar when they first signed up ESPN back in 1987. But they saw the way the wind was blowing then (to cable). They see it now (away from cable and satellite).
Young people , Gen Z, aren't into football like previous generations, at least not until they get older and more settled in their ways. It's them who are the targets for the NFL.
If Youtube (Google/Alphabet) does what I think they will do, the screen will look like Frito's TV in Idiocracy.................
I like Red Zone. No commercials and constant updates.
But the ways they’re going to settle into don’t involve DirecTV or cable. They’re settling into a world of streaming. Actually if you pay attention to how many segments are “brought to you” by some sponsor or another the games really already look like Frito’s TV. Every slowmo replay or game recap at least has the bumper announcement, and plenty of them have a logo on the screen. The networks gotta get the money back they give the NFL. Nobody is in the business for the purity of sport.
Yet. Enjoy it while it lasts. Cable TV that people paid a monthly subscription for used to be the same way.
Just give me a Green Bay Packers package and I’ll sign up today. I love You Tube TV, it saves me a great deal of money for television shows over Mediacom which I only keep for my internet.
“I don’t have internet access at home”
By choice or it’s not available?
Too costly. Every source here is about $100 a month..............
Right on! The NFL blew it when they made the deal w/Amazon. Now they’re compounding the mistake by doubling up w/Youtube. Cutting their own throats......
Somehow I think the NFL will be ok.
$65 per month ... i don’t think so ...
That comes out to $1.2 million per player per year just from this deal!
The NFL makes $10 billion a year total, so that’s $6 million per player.
Nice work if you can get it.
The average salary in the NFL is 2.7 million. https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/2022-nfl-salaries-average-players-190009130.html
The minimum is $400k,the median is $860k.
That means that most of the money goes to the “stars”.
Still way cheaper than bottom tier Comcast.
The best thing people can do is simply not watch it. Just walk away from the NFL and all other pro sports. This now includes the NHL since they have gone to The Woke Side!
Screw GoogleTube and the NFL. No use for either.
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