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NFL Sunday Tickets have been the go-to place for fans to watch their favorite teams play, no matter where they live. But after nearly two decades, DirecTV will no longer carry a NFL Sunday Ticket, as the league has signed a deal with YouTube TV.
The league signed a deal with Google's YouTube TV in December 2022 in a lucrative deal that will pay over $2 billion every year for seven years. This is the second media rights deal with a streaming service that the league has signed to broadcast games. The first being with Amazon Prime that began in the 2022 NFL season with Thursday night games being aired on the streaming service.
The commercial rights haven't been established yet, so the profits will surge over the $2 billion mark for the league.
The National Football League's contract with DirecTV began in 1994 as was the number one source for fans to watch out of market games. The contract brings in $1.5 billion each year, but since the last contract extension in 2014, DirecTV has seen a decrease in subscriptions.
As more NFL fans find alternative ways to stream games, DirecTV has lost about $500 million each season. This led the company deciding not to renew its contract. Broadcasting on YouTube TV also won't require a satellite dish as DirecTV did.
Fans won't need a subscription to YouTubeTV in order to watch the Sunday Ticket. It will be offered as an a la carte option for non-subscriptions. Or, for those who already have YouTubeTV, it can be added on to their already established subscription. The exact price for the Sunday Ticket hasn't been released as of yet.
Why is the NFL being sued over Sunday Ticket?
A lawsuit by residential and commercial DirecTV customers was filed against the National Football League. The $6 billion class action lawsuit was filed in early February 2022 accusing the league of unfair business practices.
Plaintiffs are stating that the league prohibits how many games are on traditional broadcasts and are essentially creating a monopoly with digital streaming. They say that this violates anti-trust laws in the United States.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are all subscribers, most of whom have been with the company since 1994 when Sunday Ticket first aired. The case has been certified by a federal judge in California and the case will go to trial in early 2024.
