The National Football League’s flagship television package, Sunday Ticket — the group of NFL games that are out of market and unavailable on local affiliate stations — has a new home on YouTube TV this season.
The NFL, along with Google-owned YouTube TV, released pricing tiers for the Sunday Ticket product, which is available to YouTube TV subscribers as well as nonsubscribers.
For people who already subscribe to YouTube TV, which costs $72.99 a month after a March price hike, Sunday Ticket will cost an additional $349 for the season. Subscribers can also also get a premium $389-a-year plan that includes the NFL’s popular RedZone channel.
Football fans who don’t have YouTube TV can still get NFL Sunday Ticket, but they’ll pay more. Through Google’s YouTube Primetime Channels, nonsubscribers can purchase Sunday Ticket for $449 for the season or pay $489 for the package that includes NFL RedZone.
All the Sunday Ticket plans will be discounted $100 during a special presale period, but the presale date has yet to be determined.
Here’s a list of the available plans and their cost:
- Sunday Ticket for YouTube TV subscribers: $349/year ($249 presale)
- Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone for YouTube TV subscribers: $389/year ($289 presale)
- Sunday Ticket on YouTube Primetime Channels: $449/year ($349 presale)
- Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone on YouTube Primetime Channels: $489/year ($389 presale)
NFL Sunday Ticket was formerly hosted on DirecTV, where the standard package cost $293.94 and the premium package with NFL RedZone and Fantasy Zone channels cost $395.94.
A YouTube TV subscription plus the premium Sunday Ticket package will cost over $1,200 for the year.
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Google is paying $2.5 billion a year to carry Sunday Ticket, Sports Business Journal reported, much more than the $1.5 billion DirecTV paid per year. Google is likely hoping the new agreement with the NFL boosts its YouTube TV subscriber base, which surpassed 5 million subscribers last year.
How does the NFL’s pricing compare with similar packages from other pro sports leagues?
Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV package costs $149.99 a year for nearly every game or $129.99 for every game from a single team. The NBA’s League Pass product is $100 for the standard version and $130 for the premium version.
“With only a few more months until football is back, we’re nearing the end zone,” Christian Oestlien, vice president of product management at YouTube TV and Connected TV, said in a press release. “We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on.”
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The number of games available on Sunday Ticket per week varies depending on bye weeks as well as on the standalone games the NFL schedules outside the U.S. in countries like Germany, Mexico and the U.K. During the NFL season, there are typically at least 10 games available on Sunday Ticket. Standalone primetime games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights will likely still be subject to blackout restrictions and won’t be included in Sunday Ticket.
“We’re excited to bring NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels and usher in a new era of how fans across the United States watch and follow the NFL,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said about the partnership in a statement. “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.”
The move by the NFL marks its latest move away from traditional broadcasting giants. Amazon
AMZN,
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purchased exclusive rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football last season, and the NFL has also put games on ESPN+, the ESPN streaming platform.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc.
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moved 1.11% lower during Tuesday morning trading.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
