DIRECTV has raised the 2018 pre-season price on its most popular NFL Sunday Ticket package by 4.2 percent.

The satcaster, which is now taking orders for the 2018 season, has priced the basic Sunday Ticket package at $293.94, compared to the 2017 pre-season price of $281.94.

The price increase comes although DIRECTV reportedly received numerous requests for Sunday Ticket refunds in 2017 due to the player protests during the National Anthem.

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In 2016, DIRECTV charged just $257.94 if you ordered the basic Sunday Ticket before the first week of regular season action. That means the satcaster has increased the price for the basic plan by 14 percent in two years.

(During that time, ratings for NFL games on broadcast and cable channels have declined and some analysts believe the Anthem protests, which began in 2016, are a factor. )

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The basic Sunday Ticket plan entitles a subscriber to watch out-of-market Sunday NFL games as well as access the Ticket Mix Channel (all games on one screen at the same time) and on-screen stats.

DIRECTV has raised the pre-season price for the Sunday Ticket Max plan to $395.94, compared to $377.94 for the 2017 Max price. That’s an increase of 4.7 percent. (DIRECTV last year raised the Max price by five percent over the 2016 price.)

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The Max plan includes the live regular season games as well as the Red Zone Channel (games are broadcast when a team crosses the other team’s 20 yard-line), and the DIRECTV Fantasy channel.

Both the basic and Max plans also permit subscribers to stream the games on their computers, mobiles and connected TVs.

DIRECTV has just revealed the 2018 pricing structure at its web site.

The satcaster, which has held the exclusive rights to the Ticket since its launch in 1994, reportedly paid $1.5 billion a year for eight years in the current contract which started with the 2015 season.

The Ticket increase also coincides with a similar increase DIRECTV is implementing on nearly every programming package, starting last month.

— Phillip Swann