YouTube Raising Sunday Ticket Price By $30 In 6 Days

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

Google’s YouTube has posted notice at the NFL Sunday Ticket web site that the package’s price will increase by $30 on August 15, 2024.

The Sunday Ticket site says consumers can lock in the current price by August 14. The base price for the Ticket on YouTube TV is now $349 while it’s $449 purchased separately via YouTube Primetime Channels. (You must maintain a YouTube TV subscription to get the $349 price.)

The notice of the price increase comes less than 24 hours after a California judge overturned a jury verdict that would have forced the NFL to pay billions of dollars to former DIRECTV/Sunday Ticket subscribers because of an alleged price fixing scheme. The NFL was sued by former DIRECTV/Ticket subscribers who charged the league wanted to keep the Ticket’s price artificially high to ensure that fewer fans would subscribe and therefore continue watching games on Fox and CBS, both of which pay the league billions for the rights to broadcast Sunday afternoon games.

But the judge last night dismissed the verdict, which was rendered in late June, and did not order a new trial. The plaintiffs are expected to appeal the ruling.

Before the judge dismissed the verdict, there was speculation that Google, which obtained the exclusive rights to the Ticket before the 2023 season, might have to lower prices to avoid a lawsuit from 2023/24 subscribers. (The lawsuit in the California court was based on DIRECTV subscribers from 2011 to February 2023.) But with the verdict now dismissed, Google has actually raised the price from last year. (The $349 and $449 prices are the same as 2023.)

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.