TV Answer Man, I’ve been reading that Apple will get the NFL Sunday Ticket. As a DIRECTV subscriber, how would that work? I have trouble getting the Internet at our house and I don’t think I could get the Sunday Ticket with Apple. How can they expect everyone to subscribe if Apple has it? — Mike, Port Republic, Maryland.
Mike, there have been multiple news reports suggesting that the NFL will award the next Sunday Ticket contract to a streaming company which could become the exclusive provider of the out-of-market package of Sunday afternoon games. The most recent report from The Puck says Apple has the deal wrapped up although John Ourand of Sports Business Journal writes that both Apple and Amazon are still in contention.
It’s unclear if DIRECTV is still vying for a slice of the Ticket when its contract expires after the 2022 season. The satcaster has acknowledged publicly that it no longer wants the contract exclusively, but it would like to continue offering it to the satellite audience and/or the bar and restaurant business.
But what if DIRECTV loses and the Ticket becomes a streaming exclusive after this season? If that happens, there will be more losers than just DIRECTV.
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Here are the big losers if DIRECTV is shut out of the next Sunday Ticket agreement:
DIRECTV
The satcaster has already lost six to seven million subscribers in the last six or seven years. The loss of the Ticket, which analysts estimate has between two and three million subscribers, could accelerate the company’s decline at a most inopportune time: when it might be discussing a merger with Dish.
DIRECTV Subscribers
We don’t know exactly how many, but there are numerous DIRECTV subscribers who signed up for a two-year contract with DIRECTV to get the Ticket for free in year one. (DIRECTV provides the Ticket for free in year one to new customers.) If the satcaster loses the Ticket in 2023, those fans will either have to cancel and pay a early termination fee ($20 a month for every month left in the agreement), or go through year two without the reason they signed up in the first place. Of course, they could stay with DIRECTV in year two and get the Ticket via streaming. But what if…
Rural Residents
…What if they don’t have access to a reliable Internet service? The FCC has estimated that around 20 million Americans don’t have access to high-speed Internet, although some say it’s considerably higher. In addition, many Americans opt not to get an expensive Internet plan to save money. But if they want to stream the Ticket, they will need to. The all-streaming Ticket would certainly leave potential customers on the sidelines.
Bars & Restaurants
DIRECTV has provided the Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants since the 1990s and the business has become a lucrative one. However, if DIRECTV loses the concession in 2023, those establishments will be left high and dry, so to speak, with dishes on the roof and a sudden need to install a powerful Internet network. Depending upon where the place is, and what kind of place it is, that may not be as easy as it sounds, not to mention expensive.
And even if they are able to install a reliable Internet network, the streaming of live sports remains a sketchy delivery method. Streamers often delay their sports feeds by 30-60 seconds to reduce possible buffering. How will it play in a bar when half the crowd knows a touchdown will happen before the other half because they saw it posted on social media? And what happens when a bunch of drunken fans can’t watch their faves in the fourth quarter because the streamer’s server crashed?
As you can see, there are some strong reasons for the NFL to include DIRECTV in the next Sunday Ticket contract. But that doesn’t mean it will happen. Money still rules, and if a streaming company says it will pay big bucks for an exclusive, it will get that exclusive.
Mike, hope that makes sense. Happy viewing and stay safe!
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I wouldn’t worry too much about most bars and restaurants. I own a sports bar and would love to be rid of Direct TV. Crazy expensive, terrible customer service and unreliable transmission even in a major metropolitan area. Most bars and restaurants have high speed internet already to handle POS systems and credit card processing.
Steve is RIGHT ON about “dunceTV” AT&T is AS GOOD AS DEAD and it is hilarious that few are willing (or AWARE) of how BAD it is going to get VERY QUICKLY at what is left of AT&T.
THEY
ARE…
FINISHED
and NON ONE knows it better then the clowns at AT&T (u listening stankwad ?)
SUNDAY TICKET may “survive” but I would not bet the rent on it.
THERE WILL BE NO “MERGER” with DISH NONE, ZERO, ZIP (how PLAIN CAN I MAKE THIS !!)
DISH doesn’t need to do ANYTHING PERIOD.
THEY will be the ONLY ONES LEFT when AT&T has to SHUT OWN SATELLITE OPS.
THEIR 101 and 99 birds are nearing END OF LIFE and they WILL
NOT LAUNCH NEW BIRDS (they DO NOT have the MONEY any longer OR the sub base to BLOW !!)
THEY are FINISHED so if you live in the hills you had better PRAY that hi speed gets there b4 they lights go out at Dunce TV.
PS few if ANY really watch “TV” any longer anyway. SO what WILL probably happen to AT&T is that they will HAVE to liquidate what is LEFT of their cell and super retarded build of 5G…ALL the BS they are piping is JUST THAT.
THE COMPS are running circles around the clown show of AT&T and their “build out” “plans” are HOT AIR…WATCH that stock PLUMMET to DE-LISTING sooner than later too !! I WISH I could sell TICKETS to that show !!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!, Dish is dead in the water already, scrambling to stay head above water 1/3 of subs Direct has and those are bailing. Direct may die, davy, but you or I won’t live to see the end. Dish wants to buy Direct more than Tom Brady loves winning super bowls, I hope Charlie pays you well to continue beating a dead horse, nobody listens to you anymore anyway
DAVE. Do you have something else to say, because every time in your posts, it is always the same BS, name calling DUNCE TV, DOUCHE TV, they suck, you sound like a broken record, blah,blah, blah, BORING, YAWN. Get a life and some medical attention.
Streaming sucks. Like watching a game in the past. At least 1 minute behind.
Here is hoping Direct TV does not lose NFL Ticket. I live in a rural area but recently got access to fiber technology. I decided to keep Direct TV because I like it over cable and still do not like streaming for a lot of reasons in AnswerMan’s points.