The NFL and Google announced today that YouTube and YouTube TV will be the exclusive platforms for NFL Sunday Ticket beginning in the 2023-2024 season.
This comes after months of speculation that Apple would pick up the rights for their Apple TV+ streaming service. Those talks fell through and now YouTube’s parent company Google has secured it in a deal that will reportedly cost the company billions of dollars per year.
Previously, NFL Sunday Ticket was available through DirecTV’s satellite service.
What is NFL Sunday Ticket?
Not to be confused with Sunday Night Football, NFL Sunday Ticket gives football fans a way to catch out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons. This includes any NFL game produced by Fox or CBS.
First launched in 1994, this marks the first time that the rights have been under any other company besides DirecTV.
How can you watch NFL Sunday Ticket?
Starting with the 2023-2024 season, there will be two ways to watch NFL Sunday Ticket. They are:
- As an add-on package to YouTube TV.
- As a standalone subscription through YouTube Primetime channels.
YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service that provides access to 100+ live TV channels over the internet. You can read more about the service in our review here.
YouTube Primetime Channels is a recently-launched hub for streaming services through YouTube’s website and app. You can find out more about it in our video here.
How much will NFL Sunday Ticket cost?
We don’t know yet. What we do know is that for YouTube TV subscribers, this will NOT be included in the base subscription, which costs $64.99 per month after any trials or discounts because it is offered as an add-on.
If you subscribe to it through YouTube Primetime Channels, however, you will be able to access it without paying for any other service.
What if I want to watch NFL Sunday Ticket games at a bar or restaurant?
According to YouTube: “The NFL and YouTube will work together to determine additional ways to support distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket in commercial establishments such as bars and restaurants.”
In short, we don’t know this yet, either.
Final Thoughts
With this ability to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket through Primetime channels without the need for any other subscription service, this could be a win for football fans that were previously shut out because they didn’t have DirecTV.
DirecTV technically has a standalone service called NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV but it’s only available to certain customers in select areas.
It also remains to be seen if a new outlet will provide a more affordable service. The price for NFL Sunday Ticket through DirecTV starts at a whopping $293/season.
As more details come in, we’ll keep you updated here at Shall I Stream It!
