Updated: NFL Sunday Ticket: YouTube Has Changed the Local Blackout Rule

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

TV Answer Man, I have a big question for you. If I get the Sunday Ticket, how do I know which games I will get? I travel a lot so it’s important to know if I will get my local games when I am not at home. For example, I live in Dallas but travel to New York a lot. Please let me know. Thanks in advance. — Jim, Dallas.

Jim, the NFL Sunday Ticket, which is offered by YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels, includes all Sunday afternoon out-of-market games. meaning any game that is locally broadcast will not be available in your package. You will need a pay TV subscription or local antenna to watch those games.

But this is where it gets interesting. In 2023, YouTube said the local broadcasts on the NFL Sunday Ticket would be based on your device location. For example, if you traveled to New York from Dallas, you would not get the games broadcast locally on the New York stations but would get the games broadcast in Dallas even though you lived in Dallas. Here’s an excerpt from the 2023 YouTube’s Sunday Ticket Help page:

“The games available to you through YouTube TV and the NFL Sunday Ticket add-on are based on your current viewing area determined by your device location. (Italics ours.) To watch YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket, you must turn on location permissions for YouTube TV. If you move or travel to a different location, the games available to you may change.”

But in this year’s rules, YouTube says your billing address determines which games you will get, not the device location. Here’s the pertinent graph from the terms of agreement:

“You will generally receive out-of-market Sunday afternoon games unless the game is locally broadcast. A regular season Sunday afternoon home game could also be blacked out within the home territory of the home team if the game fails to sell out. Your billing address (zip code) is associated with your streaming access. (Italics ours.) However, due to NFL rules, you might also see blackout restrictions based on your mobile device’s location (e.g., subscribers might not be able to stream while attending an NFL game or surrounding stadium areas). If there is an outage in your location, we’ll do our best to let you know.”

Here’s the screen grab I did of the new language:

Update: At some point last night (August 27), Google removed the section, ‘NFL Sunday Ticket On YouTube TV Content Availability.’ The terms no longer provide an explanation of whether your mailing address or device location will determine which games you will get. The TV Answer Man will ask Google today for a clarification.

Here’s our article with an update on this story.

Update #2: A Google spokeswoman tells The TV Answer Man that Device Location and not Billing Address will determine which games you get. She says the Terms of Agreement have been updated to clarify. See our article for more details. 

For fans who travel and/or those who share their Sunday Ticket password with friends in different markets, this is big news. In 2023, you could expect to watch your home team’s game if you were away from home. But in 2024, you will still be blacked out, according to the new terms.

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

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.

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.