April 26, 2023
On December 22, 2022, the National Football League (“NFL”) announced a multi-year agreement with Google granting YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels the right to exclusively distribute NFL Sunday Ticket beginning with the 2023 NFL season. YouTube is reportedly paying roughly $2 billion per season in the multi-year agreement. Previous exclusive rights holder, DirecTV, had been losing $500 million annually on the package but YouTube’s chief product officer, Neal Mohan, believes this agreement is a long-term investment.
Nearly four months later, YouTube has unveiled some novel ideas to attract customers to NFL Sunday Ticket. The company is selling the add-on to subscribers of the YouTube TV Base plan at $249 for the season. The company is also offering NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone bundles at $289 for the season during the presales, however these prices will increase by $100 in June.
Last month, the company announced a feature under early access called “Multiviews”. This feature lets users view multiple streams at once. YouTube said that it will enable this function for NFL Sunday Ticket streaming which is essential for NFL Fantasy players and sports bettors. Additionally, features like unlimited DVR storage, NFL Fantasy data, real-time stats and the option to hide spoilers on YouTube TV will be implemented for the 2023 season.
YouTube remains an important outlet for NFL fans globally to access NFL content, and this agreement will see a broader commitment to work together to engage with the NFL's international fan base. The NFL is the most popular live television content in all of sports and entertainment. In 2022, 41 of the top 50 and 82 of the top 100 most-watched programs on U.S. television have been NFL games.
Chris Osei-Kusi