Direct TV has been holding
on to the exclusive package of broadcasting NFL games every
Sunday since 1994,
according to Ad Week.com. No other national television station or cable
provider is able to broadcast every out of market game. Yes, other channels
will tell you they offer NFL games, but these games are not live games. Their
advertising is based on next day NFL rewinds.
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| photo: Multichannel.com |
Yes, the NFL has partnered
with Verizon to stream live games, but only in your own regional/home market. Verizon
signed a deal with the NFL to stream live games beginning in 2014. According to Money CNN.com, “Verizon
customers will continue to be able to watch
nationally televised games on Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night, which was part of the previous streaming deal inked between Verizon and the NFL.”
nationally televised games on Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night, which was part of the previous streaming deal inked between Verizon and the NFL.”
According to Bloomberg.com,
the NFL is talking with multiple companies in the possibility of partnering
with someone new. The new age of television being developed through apps and
other sources is making it difficult for the NFL to move on from DirecTV.
Right now, the NFL is
talking with cable providers and new players of online TV such as Sony and
Google Inc, according to Bloomberg.com.
DirecTV has made it clear
they may not be able to afford the new package price. Currently, DirecTV is
paying about $1 billion per year to the NFL and the contract will end in January
2015 (end of 2014 season), according to NFL.com. Technically, DirecTV will have
one more year of the exclusive contract.
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| photo: Digital Trends.com |
As of now, the only players
in the game who are guaranteed to showcase some form of the NFL package is the XBox One. According to CNET Reviews.com, the NFL and Microsoft struck a deal for the new XBox One platform.
It will be something interesting to watch, but it will not be a replacement to
the Sunday Ticket. Microsoft will be showcasing a whole new brand of innovative
TV for the fans.
NFL fans will just have to
wait like everyone else to see who will be the provider of all NFL games each
and every Sunday.
Will DirecTV go all in and
do it like they have always done it?
Will a new company get the
chance to show the world what NFL football has been missing through television?
We’ll soon see!
As a 15 year subscriber to Sunday Ticket I found the $300 price too expensive, not to mention being forced to stay with Directv. I decided to shop around and found some options. If interested I blogged about them here: http://blog.vimware.com/2013/09/how-to-watch-favorite-nfl-team-and-get.htm
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