DIRECTV Loses NFL Sunday Ticket For Bars & Restaurants

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee!

DIRECTV will no longer offer the NFL Sunday Ticket to commercial venues, including bars and restaurants, starting with the 2026 season, according to a report by Sportico.

Update: DIRECTV Wants a New Deal For Ticket In Bars

The sports business publication writes that EverPass Media will become the exclusive carrier of the NFL package in commercial venues after a three-year shared agreement with DIRECTV.

DIRECTV had the exclusive residential and commercial rights to the Ticket from the package’s inception in 1994 to 2023 when YouTube TV bought the consumer rights.

In 2023, the NFL awarded the commercial rights to Ever Pass Media but the company licensed the business side to DIRECTV, fearing that bars and restaurants could have difficulty streaming the games. (Commercial venues were already set up with DIRECTV satellite receivers.) But EverPass Media, which also distributes other sports to commercial spots, such as Peacock, has expanded its streaming offering to businesses over the three years and now apparently believes that the satellite distribution is no longer necessary.

“Our mission is simple: aggregate the premium live sports your guests care about into one authorized, easy-to-use solution for businesses,” an email from EverPass to customers said, according to Sportico. “Anchored by NFL Sunday Ticket, we continue investing in content, technology, and partnerships to help you create a game day experience your guests can’t get at home.”

Sportico reports that bars and restaurants can use Xumo boxes or EverPass Media hardware to receive the Sunday Ticket signals.

The loss of the commercial Sunday Ticket is another blow to DIRECTV which once ruled the TV distribution business. The company has lost roughly 15 million residential subscribers in the last decade, forcing it to pivot to an emphasis on its new streaming service.

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