DIRECTV unlikely to keep NFL Sunday Ticket

[crow159]

Roger Goodell: Sunday Ticket is heading for a streaming service, with decision coming later this year

The Commissioner has confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

 

[Bruce]

Roger Goodell: Sunday Ticket is heading for a streaming service, with decision coming later this year

The Commissioner has confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

here is the actual CNBC article-

NFL will select new Sunday Ticket partner by fall, Commissioner Roger Goodell says

The NFL plans to choose a winning bidder for Sunday Ticket by the fall, Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday.

www.cnbc.com

couple of points-

"I clearly believe we'll be moving to a streaming service," Goodell told CNBC's Julia Boorstin in an exclusive interview at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley conference in Idaho. "I think that's best for consumers at this stage."

Goodell noted that many people who watch games on a streaming service don't subscribe to traditional pay TV, allowing the league to capture a wider audience by moving Sunday Ticket to a digital provider.

"We really believe these new platforms give us an ability to innovate where we are today," said Goodell. "It obviously makes it more available to our consumers, particularly the younger demographic, which is one that we really want to get to. I think this will make it more accessible for fans. I think it will be a better experience for fans."

 

[meStevo]

So basically no surprises to anyone paying attention or not in denial about the future of the service.

 

[Juan]

So basically no surprises to anyone paying attention or not in denial about the future of the service.

Thats right..screw the loyal fans and go after the younger demographic that streams but doesn't watch or pay for sports premium packages

 

[meStevo]

Thats right..screw the loyal fans and go after the younger demographic that streams but doesn't watch or pay for sports premium packages

Plenty of loyal fans have moved on from antiquated satellite service and will be happy to see it be an option to them again, while many existing loyal fans and customers will just be opening an app instead of tuning to a particular channel.

 

[Juan]

Plenty of loyal fans have moved on from antiquated satellite service and will be happy to see it be an option to them again, while many existing loyal fans and customers will just be opening an app instead of tuning to a particular channel.

The ones who wanted sunday ticket stayed with directv...you can't beat FREE

 

[Bruce]

Thats right..screw the loyal fans and go after the younger demographic that streams but doesn't watch or pay for sports premium packages

The only ones that is screwing the loyal fans is DirecTV/AT&T/TPG, that could easily bid on the new package and paid the same as Apple/Amazon, that way they could keep offering it to their Satellite Customers and expanded to broadband customers as a stand alone and/or with DirecTV Stream.

And any business has to expand to the younger demographics, they need to continue to grow, if you do not get new fans, then the older ones will just die off and no one to replace them.

 

[Bruce]

The ones who wanted sunday ticket stayed with directv...you can't beat FREE

So that is why you do not like this deal, because you will have to pay if you want it?

No wonder DirecTV is not bidding on it.

 

[Darrell S]

In my case, it is because I live in rural area with crappy internet. I would never pay for as much as they charge for ST, if it wasn't going to work most of the time.
I can watch ESPN+, but there isn't much I like on there I like except extra college football games, and the exclusive NHL games I can't get on center ice. It comes with the Disney bundle I get with my Verizon plan.
I did pay for NFLST until they decided to give it to me free for the last 3 years without even asking.

 

[AZ.]

Plenty of loyal fans have moved on from antiquated satellite service and will be happy to see it be an option to them again, while many existing loyal fans and customers will just be opening an app instead of tuning to a particular channel.

Like always....THE ONES THAT CAN STREAM! Many of us cant!

 

[Juan]

The only ones that is screwing the loyal fans is DirecTV/AT&T/TPG, that could easily bid on the new package and paid the same as Apple/Amazon, that way they could keep offering it to their Satellite Customers and expanded to broadband customers as a stand alone and/or with DirecTV Stream.

And any business has to expand to the younger demographics, they need to continue to grow, if you do not get new fans, then the older ones will just die off and no one to replace them.

What are you going to do when directv cuts that deal with apple?

 

[meStevo]

The ones who wanted sunday ticket stayed with directv...you can't beat FREE

Hasn't been for many, this is the first year in several they I've been offered it for free.

Like always....THE ONES THAT CAN STREAM! Many of us cant!

Unfortunate for your use case, but most can.

 

[Bruce]

What are you going to do when directv cuts that deal with apple?

I doubt it will happen, even Roger Goodell said it was moving to a streaming service and would be a exclusive.

And every news story that mentions that is the same old 'DirecTV is willing to cut a deal', no news story says that Apple/Amazon is willing to share it and to what advantage would they gain if they did.

Now, if it did happen, I would do what I was going to do, get it with Apple/Amazon.

 

[NashGuy]

In my case, it is because I live in rural area with crappy internet. I would never pay for as much as they charge for ST, if it wasn't going to work most of the time.
I can watch ESPN+, but there isn't much I like on there I like except extra college football games, and the exclusive NHL games I can't get on center ice. It comes with the Disney bundle I get with my Verizon plan.
I did pay for NFLST until they decided to give it to me free for the last 3 years without even asking.

If your internet works well enough for you to live stream sports in ESPN+, what in the world makes you think it wouldn't work well enough to live stream NFLST "most of the time"? Do you imagine that everyone in your neighborhood will be live streaming out-of-market NFL games? I really doubt it.

 

[NashGuy]

"I clearly believe we'll be moving to a streaming service," Goodell told CNBC's Julia Boorstin in an exclusive interview at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley conference in Idaho. "I think that's best for consumers at this stage."

Only question at this point, I think, is which of the following three companies will be branding and running the streaming app:

• Apple
• Amazon
• the NFL themselves

I'm beginning to wonder whether either Apple or Amazon wants to lose the kind of money they'd necessarily lose if the purchased exclusive rights to NFLST for the $2.5 billion price tag the NFL reportedly wants. The NFL knows both tech companies have mountains of cash to burn and they're hoping they'll do it to score the culture caché of the NFL. But Amazon Prime has already paid a ton for Thursday Night Football. I can't see them ponying up billions more for NFLST (which, let's remember, doesn't feature anyone's local team).

So that leaves Apple. Yes, they'd love to land a piece of the NFL. But can they justify the cost to their shareholders? If they don't bite, I think the NFL just takes it in-house and goes direct-to-consumer and makes whatever they can off it (which will be well less than $2.5 billion). Which I suspect is how most major sports will be handled eventually. It's already how the NFL and NBA sell their out-of-market packages. Just as the major studios are vertically integrated with their own direct-to-consumer apps (e.g. Disney and Disney+, WBD and HBO Max, etc.), that seems the likeliest endpoint for major pro sports too.

 

[Juan]

I doubt it will happen, even Roger Goodell said it was moving to a streaming service and would be a exclusive.

And every news story that mentions that is the same old 'DirecTV is willing to cut a deal', no news story says that Apple/Amazon is willing to share it and to what advantage would they gain if they did.

Now, if it did happen, I would do what I was going to do, get it with Apple/Amazon.

It will happen...NFL isn't going to leave money sitting on the table

 

[navychop]

Hasn't been for many, this is the first year in several they I've been offered it for free.

Unfortunate for your use case, but most can.

StarLink, Kuiper, OneWeb and now a couple coming out of China. Not good if you're deep in the woods.

 

[NashGuy]

If we see them actually launch their own $5/mo NFL+ streaming service via their own NFL app this month or next, as expected, then that increases the chances, IMO, that they also sell NFLST direct-to-consumers on their own. Although it's possible that, in both cases, we see them also partner up with multiple non-exclusive distributors. Imagine being able to add either NFL+ or NFLST as an add-on to Prime Video, Apple TV+, YouTube TV, etc., in addition to getting either one as a standalone app (i.e. much the same way Showtime works, for instance).

If Apple bites on NFLST, I think it will also be because they want to buy a big stake in NFL Media (which the NFL is shopping around as a potential part of the deal) to make the iPhone the exclusive mobile platform for the content that will otherwise go into NFL+.

 

[Jimbo]

The only ones that is screwing the loyal fans is DirecTV/AT&T/TPG, that could easily bid on the new package and paid the same as Apple/Amazon, that way they could keep offering it to their Satellite Customers and expanded to broadband customers as a stand alone and/or with DirecTV Stream.

And any business has to expand to the younger demographics, they need to continue to grow, if you do not get new fans, then the older ones will just die off and no one to replace them.

Sunday Ticket is not available on D* Stream last I heard.

 

[Jimbo]

So that is why you do not like this deal, because you will have to pay if you want it?

No wonder DirecTV is not bidding on it.

What does Juan's cost for ST have to do with D* bidding on it ?