TV Answer Man, I have had DIRECTV for several years and we have subscribed to the NFL Sunday Ticket. Do you know if I will need to get a YouTube TV subscription to keep getting the Sunday Ticket? Or can I keep DIRECTV and still get the Ticket? Will DIRECTV still have the Ticket, too? — Ellie, Plano, Texas. 

Ellie, as you know, Google, the owner of YouTube and YouTube TV, last December secured the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket starting with the 2023 season. DIRECTV, which had the package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games since 1994, will no longer be the exclusive carrier. While it’s possible that DIRECTV will continue to offer the Ticket to bars and restaurants, there’s no indication that Google will sublicense the package to DIRECTV for residential customers.

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The good news for you is that you can keep your DIRECTV subscription and still get the Sunday Ticket through Google without paying for an additional TV provider. Google has announced that the Ticket will be available as part of the YouTube TV service — and separately via YouTube Primetime Channels. That means you will be able to get the Ticket as a separate subscription without having to get YouTube TV.

However, Google has also said that YouTube TV subscribers will likely get a price break on the Ticket, although the company has not revealed pricing details yet. That means the Ticket will cost a little more on YouTube than YouTube TV. Google will do this to encourage more people to subscribe to YouTube TV, which now costs $64.99 a month for 100 channels.

The YouTube TV Sunday Ticket page also says both the YouTube TV’s Ticket plan and the YouTube Channels standalone package will include versions with and without the NFL RedZone Channel. (YouTube TV now offers the RedZone channel in its $10.99 a month Sports add-on plan.)

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Ellie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman