The NFL’s Sunday Ticket is making its historic move to YouTube starting next season after Google’s rich, seven-year deal with the league. And unless gridiron fans act soon to take advantage of YouTube’s special early-bird pricing, they’ll have to pay more for the out-of-market games NFL package than when it was carried by DirecTV.
YouTube announced pricing for NFL Sunday Ticket, which is available as an add-on to YouTube TV subscribers as well as to anyone else in the U.S. through the standalone YouTube Primetime Channels. Starting Tuesday (April 11) through June 6, 2023, the Google-owned video platform is offering discounts for Sunday Ticket packages — knocking $100 off the regular full-season prices.
The regular pricing of Sunday Ticket for YouTube TV customers will be $349 for the 2023 season, higher than DirecTV’s $293.94 price tag for the 2022 season. And if you don’t have YouTube TV, you’ll pay even more. Whereas DirecTV typically required you to buy a satellite TV package to get Sunday Ticket, YouTube will sell the package on a standalone basis — and although you don’t need to a pay-TV subscription, it will cost $100 more per season than for YouTube TV subscribers. Note that the base price of YouTube TV recently jumped 12%, from $64.99/month to $72.99/month; meanwhile, ahead of the start of this year’s baseball season, the streamer dropped MLB Network.
Sunday Ticket includes all out-of-market Sunday regular-season NFL games that are broadcast on Fox and CBS, letting fans (or sports bettors) catch the action of every team live. That means that if you subscribe to YouTube TV and Sunday Ticket, you’ll be able to watch and/or record every single NFL game during the 2023 season.
YouTube is offering Sunday Ticket in two flavors: bundled with NFL RedZone (the league’s whip-around channel that shows every touchdown live on Sundays) and without it. Here’s a rundown of the pricing:
- Sunday Ticket via YouTube TV: $349/season ($249 presale)
- Sunday Ticket + NFL RedZone via YouTube TV: $389/season ($289 presale)
- Sunday Ticket via YouTube Primetime Channels: $449/season ($349 presale)
- Sunday Ticket + NFL RedZone via YouTube Primetime Channels: $489/season ($389 presale)
NFL RedZone also is available through YouTube TV’s Sports Plus add-on package ($10.99 per month), which among other channels includes Fox Soccer Plus and beIN Sports.
Google will reportedly pay the NFL between $2 billion and $2.5 billion per year for Sunday Ticket, up from the estimated $1.5 billion that DirecTV had been shelling out. The NFL licensed to Google the right to exclusively distribute Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels to residential consumers in the U.S. starting with the 2023 NFL season.
YouTube obviously would like to recoup what it’s paying for Sunday Ticket, but it’s looking at the deal in a broader context. Execs want the exclusive NFL package to drive YouTube TV signups, and they’re also hoping it will help YouTube capture a bigger share of TV ad spending.
YouTube is developing special new features for the 2023 NFL season, such as the ability to rewatch key plays as well as access NFL Fantasy data and real-time stats. Just prior to this year’s NCAA March Madness tournament, YouTube TV added a multiview feature — letting customers watch up to four channels simultaneously — which will appeal to Sunday Ticket viewers. (The platform says it’s working to bring key plays and multiview features to YouTube Primetime Channels as well.) YouTube also is working on adding shopping integrations so viewers can buy team merchandise and integrating social features such as live chats and polls.
Meanwhile, the NFL last month announced a multiyear deal with investment firm RedBird Capital Partners to form EverPass Media, which will hold exclusive rights to distribute Sunday Ticket to bars, restaurants, hotels and other commercial venues in the U.S. (through participating cable and satellite TV providers) starting with the 2023 season.
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