YouTube Silent On NFL Sunday Ticket Refunds; Fans Are Furious
By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman
More than 30 years of experience covering TV technology.
YouTube yesterday turned a deaf ear to calls from fans and journalists for refunds because of Sunday’s widespread technical glitches during the NFL Sunday Ticket.
Ticket subscribers on Sunday were often unable to watch games without buffering or getting a black screen. The problem began shortly after kickoff for the 1 p.m. ET games and continued for most of the day. YouTube’s X customer support team acknowledged the issue during the games on Sunday and added that it would post a follow-up when there was a resolution. However, YouTube never posted a follow-up on Sunday or Monday. The streamer did tell some customers in responses that there are no refunds for the NFL Sunday Ticket, although the refund remark did not specifically address Sunday’s technical difficulties.
we won’t be offering refunds for NFL Sunday Ticket, but we recommend reaching out to our Live Support team for further help: https://t.co/QpG23nxZ8x
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) October 29, 2023
The lack of a refund contrasts with how DIRECTV handled streaming issues for the Ticket during the few weeks of the 2022 season. The TV provider, which had the Ticket exclusively for the plan’s first 28 seasons, issued credits, although it did not reveal the exact amount. (The technical issues did not affect DIRECTV’s satellite customers.)
“We recognize we didn’t meet expectations on Sunday for customers looking to stream some of the games, and we want to apologize. While it won’t bring the games back, we plan to reach out to those affected to automatically reimburse them for week two,” the satcaster said in September 2022.
YouTube’s silence yesterday on Sunday’s issues did not sit well with some fans.
Sunday Ticket was a disaster yesterday but can’t get them to respond to anything. Should be a day we all get a credit to our accounts.
— SportsPickMagic (@G_LovesWinning) October 31, 2023
They should be offering refunds for 1/4th of a month of Sunday ticket for this, since we all literally lost a weekend of a very expensive package.
— Tyler S. Breton (@TBreton15) October 30, 2023
Sunday Ticket on youtube is ridiculace bad for the money. Since the NFL made all this money, they should guarantee the quality of the program to the general public. Refunds are in order, YouTube can’t handle it.
— Bryan Oshio (@1fastburn) October 30, 2023
Pretty much lost an entire weekend of Sunday Ticket now all games are not available. You should be offering refunds. I know I won’t be purchasing this again next year
— Gobirds! (@WRnation123) October 29, 2023
Great are you giving refunds for yesterday’s absurd viewing experience on Sunday ticket???
— Sandip (@sjain316) October 30, 2023
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
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I long for the days past of DirecTV. YouTubeTV simply sucks the big one’
The NFL decided to abandon 📡 and go internet only … only a matter of time before they had issues . There were never issues via 📡 only via internet .
If you push them for a refund, they will give you a credit on other Google services. But you have to push them. DTV gave refunds proactively last year when they had an issue in week 1.