NFL Sunday Ticket On YouTube: Can You Share Your Password With Anyone?

YouTube TV is the exclusive carrier of the NFL Sunday Ticket.

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

TV Answer Man, I live in Ohio and I want to share my NFL Sunday Ticket with my son in California. Can I give him the password so he can watch from California? Will he need to be on my IP address in my home from time to time. I know YouTube TV has a rule like that. Can you clear this up for me? — Ginni, Dayton, Ohio.

Ginni, that is a great question, one that has puzzled many Sunday Ticket fans since Google’s YouTube took over the Ticket’s rights after it was an exclusive on DIRECTV since 1994. Google in May waived its two-stream max for the Ticket, saying subscribers will have unlimited streams to watch the games at home and two additional streams when watching away from home. That would seem to open the door to password sharing, allowing two friends and/or family members outside the home to use your Ticket’s account to watch the games. But YouTube TV has a rule that says although you can provide an account password to ‘family group members,’ each ‘family member’ must “primarily live in the same household.”

So, can you share your password with someone outside the household or not? And if you do, will that person need to periodically check in at your house? Google says at its web site that ‘family group’ members need to “periodically use YouTube TV in your home location to keep access.”

I asked YouTube TV’s support team today if you can share a Ticket account with a person outside the household. And whether that person would need to use his or her device in your home at some point. The support team said that is the rule for YouTube TV, but an exception is being made for Sunday Ticket subscribers. If you get the Ticket from either YouTube TV or YouTube Primetime Channels, you can share the password with up to two people outside the house thanks to the new two-stream rule for using the Ticket away from home. Just be sure those people use your e-mail address when signing in. Otherwise, they will not be able to log in.

This should be welcome news for fans who have been thinking of subscribing to the Sunday Ticket but have hesitated due to the price. (The Ticket’s prices start at $299 now.) You could subscribe and split the plan with two people outside the house, reducing your expense.

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

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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