By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman
TV Answer Man, I have a question for you. If I order YouTube TV now to get the $249 discount, can I still watch the Ticket if I cancel YouTube TV in October or November? You should be able to keep the Ticket since you paid for the whole season, right? — Glenn, Big Spring, Texas.
Glenn, YouTube and YouTube TV last week announced the pricing for the 2023 NFL Sunday Ticket with the highest priced plan (games and RedZone for YouTube standalone subs) going for $489 and the lowest priced plan (just the games on YouTube TV) set at $349 after 6/6. See this article for more details.
However, there is a $100 discount on the base $349 Ticket if you subscribe to YouTube TV by June 6, bringing the price to $249. The price break has prompted many fans to send e-mails to yours truly asking how long you must maintain your YouTube TV sub to get the discount and continue watching games on the Ticket.
For example, let’s say you subscribe to YouTube TV on June 5 and get the Sunday Ticket for $249. But after the NFL’s regular season games start in September, you decide to cancel YouTube TV. Do you then keep your Sunday Ticket subscription? After all, you paid for the entire season, right?
That may sound reasonable, but the answer is no. If you cancel YouTube TV after paying for the Ticket, you lose the Ticket as well. This is from the YouTube TV web site:
“You must maintain your YouTube TV Base Plan to access your NFL Sunday Ticket membership.”
Click Amazon: See Today’s 1-Day-Only Discounts!
Even worse, you do not get a refund on what’s left of the 2023 season. If you cancelled YouTube TV after the first week of games, you would not get a penny back from the $249.
If you want to get the YouTube TV discount, and watch the Ticket for the entire season, you’ll have to keep that YouTube TV subscription from pre-June 6 through the entire regular season which ends in January 2024. That means you will have to subscribe to YouTube TV, which costs $72.99 a month, for at least eight months. That comes to $583 to get a $100 discount. (Here’s how you can $300 on that $583.)
Click Amazon: See Today’s 1-Day-Only Discounts!
Google, which owns the two YouTube services, is doing this to prevent people from getting YouTube TV to get the discount and then cancelling shortly thereafter. The company agreed to pay $2.2 billion a year for the Ticket’s rights and it wants to maximize revenue however possible.
Glenn, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
I asked a Google chat agent. Can purchase and pause subscription leading up to season.
Might work to save some money.
“While your membership is paused, YouTube TV can’t be accessed and no new programs will be recorded. Your previous recordings will be saved until the end of the paused state (although recordings are still subject to our standard 9-month expiration date).”