“What is NFL DOING” - Fans slam decision to move international game pass to new streaming service

Published Feb 07, 2023 17:29 GMT

Commissioner Roger Goodell at NFC Divisional Playoffs - Dallas Cowboys v San Francisco 49ers

In the United States, if NFL fans want to watch live regular season games, they need to hope their market shows the game on their cable or antenna service. Otherwise, it gets tricky. If the game is out of market, fans need to jump through numerous hoops and subscriptions to watch their team every week.

However, International Game Pass users have essentially gotten a simpler and easier way to watch games through one service and subscription price. Most of the time, it is cheaper than streaming services in the United States. If one compares the United States' version of Game Pass to the international version, the difference is night-and-day.

Internationally, fans can watch every regular season game, playoff game, Super Bowl and RedZone with one subscription.

If one is subscribed to Game Pass in the United States, they cannot see any regular season games live. However, with the NFL partnering with a new company, everything is up in the air.

Starting in 2023, DAZN will be facilitating Game Pass International. Fans are distraught with the league's decision and took to Twitter to blast the announcement reported by Adam Schefter:

NFL overhauling viewing options in 2023

The league's decision isn't the only big change occurring to how the sport is watched. This year was the first time in the league's history that every single Thursday Night Football game with the exception of the Week 1 season opener was put entirely online. If one didn't have an internet connection, there was no way to watch football on Thursdays.

Additionally, last offseason, the league experienced a shuffle of commentators. Troy Aikman and Joe Buck left FOX to join ESPN for Monday Night Football. Al Michaels left NBC to join Amazon. Now, starting in 2024, Tom Brady will be joining FOX to call games for the network.

Additionally, the league is moving its Sunday Ticket service to YouTube TV. The deal begins in 2023 and will run for seven years, according to CNBC. If one wants, they'll be able to subscribe to the service through a "premium channel" option.

Over the last decade, the league has slowly embraced the internet as a home to watch live football. At first, it was only used as an experimental option. Today, one can argue that watching the league through the internet has never been easier or more readily available.

With all of the efforts to add online options to every game on the NFL calendar, some are starting to wonder if the league will push to move the NFL exclusively online one day.

About the author

Ian brings with him more than 6.5 years of sports writing experience to the Sportskeeda NFL team. He played offensive line in middle school and high school, and also made it to the top 0% matchmaking ranking in MUT play in Madden.

He possesses the quality of identifying unique story angles from quotes in press conferences, social media and interviews. He assimilates facts for his stories with a lawyer-like precision and verifies each and every piece of information.

Ian admires Peyton Manning for his ability to beat teams with his mind despite not being the best athlete, and is also a fan of Tom Brady. The Denver Broncos are his favorite team, and their Super Bowl 50 win in Manning’s last game is etched in his memory forever. Bill Belichick is his all-time favorite coach.

He has also grown to admire the Los Angeles Rams mainly because he and Cooper Kupp went to the same college, Eastern Washington University, with both finishing their college careers at the same time.

In his career so far, Ian has had the privilege of exclusively interviewing Los Angeles Rams General Manager Les Snead, Kwity Paye of the Indianpolis Colts and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jamari Thrash. When not writing, he likes to play video games and be outdoors.

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