As we roll into the last part of NFL season for this year, it’s natural to start thinking about next year. It seems like there are always rumors that NFL Sunday Ticket will move away from DIRECTV toward a streaming service. At least for now, those rumors aren’t true.
You’re good until 2022, bruh
The most recent contract between DIRECTV and the NFL, signed before AT&T took over, is good until 2022. It includes exclusive live TV and streaming rights for regular season Sunday NFL games, just as it always has. It’s possible that the NFL could look for a new partner in 2022, although I don’t know why they would leave AT&T.
In the current contract, AT&T can stream Sunday Ticket content to existing subscribers but can’t offer the service separately unless the customer can 100% prove that they can’t get satellite TV in their location. From what I understand this is a pretty big hill to climb and most people who have tried to get Sunday Ticket without DIRECTV have failed.
Of course we don’t know what the next contract will look like, but I just don’t imagine the NFL giving up on a partner who has delivered consistently for over 25 years. NFL Sunday Ticket and DIRECTV grew up together and both organizations have thrived.
Wasn’t there something about 2020 though?
Yes, you remember correctly. There was an option in the contract that would allow the NFL to opt out in 2019 if they wanted to. This would allow them to offer Sunday Ticket, either exclusively or non-exclusively, to another provider. However the contract window passed and the NFL didn’t do that. So, DIRECTV is officially your sole pay-TV source for NFL Sunday Ticket action for the next three seasons.
Will there ever be a standalone NFL Sunday Ticket package? Or a streaming-only NFL Sunday Ticket package?
Never say never. But, it’s ok to say “not yet.” While internet speeds and capacities keep getting better, we’re not yet at the point where streaming is a viable alternative to satellite. This is especially true with businesses. A sports bar that wants to show six or seven games at a time will probably not be able to stream that many reliably. Business internet still lags behind home internet in speed, although the slower speeds usually mean more reliability.
As much as we all enjoy NFL action at home, the big money comes from sports bars. Maybe in 2022 the parties involved might feel more comfortable with a streaming-only NFL package. If we look at things today, at least as far as sports bars, we’re not there yet.
AT&T absolutely could offer a streaming-only or standalone Sunday Ticket package but of course that would hurt its DIRECTV division. NFL Sunday Ticket isn’t just the most profitable package on DIRECTV, it’s rumored to be the most profitable package of any pay-TV service. Taking that away from DIRECTV would hurt the division and the suits at AT&T would have to feel confident that they could make just as much money or more by streaming or offering standalone some other way.
Since DIRECTV customers are some of the most profitable customers in the pay-TV universe, I’m not sure AT&T would want to make a big change there. I tend to think that NFL Sunday Ticket just isn’t going anywhere.
It would be nice if AT&T offered NFLST without the need for a satellite subscription.
Yeah I wouldn’t be holding my breath on that one.
Why not? The other three professional leagues offer it, why can’t the NFL?
Why would the NFL or AT&T want to do this?
To allow more people access to it. More subscribers equals more money for the NFL and AT&T.
The NFL doesn’t make more money per subscriber, because it isn’t paid per subscriber. They get a flat rate from Directv for the exclusive, averaging $1.5 billion a year in the current contract. Directv is known to lose money on that as far as what individuals and businesses pay for it, but they do it because it helps drive subscriptions (especially on the commercial side where Directv is almost a monopoly for bars/restaurants)
If they drop the exclusive they’ll have to sell based on subscriptions, and it is far from certain they could get paid more that way. Especially if they offered it via streaming where it is so easy for people to “share” their subscription among friends.
My bet is that AT&T will want to keep the exclusive for commercial, but go non-exclusive and pay per subscriber for residential. Then the NFL could offer it to Dish and cable companies on the same terms, but may wait and see on streaming until there’s a way to avoid account sharing.
This is a tough one. Directv is losing customers like crazy, but they could really lose a ton if they don’t have NFL ST. I’ve been with Directv for 16 years, primarily due to wanting ST.
In a related note, we are house hunting and I’m not sure I want a dish on the new house, especially if ST is going to move to another provider after ’22.