NFL Sunday Ticket Headed to YouTube?

[SB39]

In a single year Directv through promotions had 1.1 million people sign up for Sunday Ticket.

It is currently $60 for 5 months or $300 for Sunday ticket max. If in 1 year, 1.1 million people signed up that is $300 million. An article I just read states they have over 2 million users and that is prior to the NFL season. That is $600 million worth of subscriptions.

Now if you were to unlock it and allow all TV providers to have it and distribute it like preseason live on NFL.com, I'd expect on a very rough estimate 10 million people or more to subscribe. At $300 per user, that comes to $3 Billion, or 3x as much as Directv pays yearly for the rights. That doesn't include TV providers paying NFL for the use of their channel.

NFL stands to make MUCH more money if they open up their product to more people.

Sorry, but I think the NFL knows what they're doing. I have no doubt that they weighed the options of having it available to all providers versus the offer they were getting from DirecTV.

It's like Madden NFL. EA Sports is paying so much for the NFL exclusivity rights that the league makes more from having that 1 contract than they made when other companies could make NFL products too.

 

[DaBruinz]

I can't stand Comcast... they are crooks and their customer service sucks! I switched to Dish as they are cheaper than DirecTV and have heard too many bad stories about DirecTV's lack of customer service.

I can say I am happy with my Dish Network. Their customer service is awesome and they fixed a wirining issue I had in my house caused by Comcast! I too live in Florida and the signal does crap out on me every now and then when the rain is heavy but it's only for a minute or two and then comes right back. I am paying about half of what I was with Comcrooks.

With Dish I have found that your installer really matters. If they just have an understanding of how to hook the system up you may not get the best signal you can. If you have a guy who knows what they are doing, there shouldn't be any problems. The HD picture on satellite is better than cable too. I can live with the signal dropping once in a while while I count the money I save monthly compared to Comcrap.

Wow.. I've heard the exact opposite. Not to mention that DiSH Network was rated last in Customer Service for many years. Particularly when compared to DirecTV, Verizon Fios, and the cable companies.

 

[SB39]

The NFL Ticket is not going to go away from a cable or satellite provider.

Many people in this country don't have suitable HSI available to them at a speed it would take to stream a game in HD.

A bunch of my buddies and I go to our friend's house to watch footbal who has a kick ass home theatre with a 120" projector system. But, where he lives the best he can do for internet is 1 meg DSL.

Could I see a joint bid by let's say Google and Dish, sure but I don't see them pulling this from people without adequate internet or no internet at all.

Plus, I wonder how a sports bar is going to stream 10 games at at time, it would be virtually impossible in most locations.

I made a virtually identical post before reading yours. People are assuming that any Google bid would be an exclusive-rights contract like what DirecTV currently has, but there's no way we won't have some sort of TV option for Sunday Ticket (and I don't mean internet-TV).

 

[DaBruinz]

In a single year Directv through promotions had 1.1 million people sign up for Sunday Ticket.

It is currently $60 for 5 months or $300 for Sunday ticket max. If in 1 year, 1.1 million people signed up that is $300 million. An article I just read states they have over 2 million users and that is prior to the NFL season. That is $600 million worth of subscriptions.

Now if you were to unlock it and allow all TV providers to have it and distribute it like preseason live on NFL.com, I'd expect on a very rough estimate 10 million people or more to subscribe. At $300 per user, that comes to $3 Billion, or 3x as much as Directv pays yearly for the rights. That doesn't include TV providers paying NFL for the use of their channel.

NFL stands to make MUCH more money if they open up their product to more people.

You don't seem to understand how the contract works. Whichever provider has the contract pays the NFL to show the games. That's all the money the provider pays the NFL. The provider then get's subscribers to pay them. That money is kept by the subscriber. DirecTV was paying 1 Billion a year on this current contract to the NFL, but only making between $300 and $400 million on Sunday Ticket subscriptions. So, DirecTV was taking a substantial loss.

Going forward, I suspect that the NFL will want the same sort of payment system. That the provider pays they a yearly lump sum and then it's up to the provider to recoup that money..

 

[SB39]

Going forward, I suspect that the NFL will want the same sort of payment system. That the provider pays they a yearly lump sum and then it's up to the provider to recoup that money..

I'm not so sure. When you give an exclusive rights contract, it makes sense to require a specific amount of money from DirecTV and then let them deal with trying to recoup. NFL Sunday Ticket was a loss leader for DirecTV so they were willing to just fork over a flat fee up front.

But if Sunday Ticket was opened up to all satellite and cable systems, those providers may not be willing to fork over a huge up front flat fee. It might just make more sense to collect royalties on each subscription sold - especially since they will probably sell about 3 times as many subscriptions if Sunday Ticket was available to all.

 

[DaBruinz]

I'm not so sure. When you give an exclusive rights contract, it makes sense to require a specific amount of money from DirecTV and then let them deal with trying to recoup. NFL Sunday Ticket was a loss leader for DirecTV so they were willing to just fork over a flat fee up front.

But if Sunday Ticket was opened up to all satellite and cable systems, those providers may not be willing to fork over a huge up front flat fee. It might just make more sense to collect royalties on each subscription sold - especially since they will probably sell about 3 times as many subscriptions if Sunday Ticket was available to all.

I suspect that there would be a lot more than 3 times as many subscriptions sold. At $300 per subscription, you'd need to have more than 3.4 million subscriptions for the NFL to make the money it was getting from DirecTV. Furthermore, for their accounting of the Salary Cap, Teams need that money upfront so they know how much teams are allowed to spend.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Direct TV purposely does not offer the subscription choice that most fans seek. You can buy the package or subscribe by the game at a particularly exorbitant price.

But what most fans are, is fans of a particular team.

By far the most popular option would be a 16, or 20 including preseason, game package of that team's games. However, that would reduce Direct TVs revenues and complicate their billing. So they don't do so.
Fans would rely on the "national" broadcasts for the good games that don't involve "their" team.

The NFL and Google would be wise to be cautious. Fans would tend to start passing on even their team's turkey games. Even season ticket holders eventually tire of watching the turkey games, and give/sell their tickets away. This would start to lessen revenues, and start a trend leading to Baseball's problem. One turkey game doesn't mean much and, eventually, Why bother?

 

[SB39]

I suspect that there would be a lot more than 3 times as many subscriptions sold.

All the more reason to turn it into a royalty-based revenue.

At $300 per subscription, you'd need to have more than 3.4 million subscriptions for the NFL to make the money it was getting from DirecTV. Furthermore, for their accounting of the Salary Cap, Teams need that money upfront so they know how much teams are allowed to spend.

The NFL will determine first and foremost what method generates the most revenue, then their secondary concerns will be how to finagle the Salary Cap. The Salary Cap already uses revenue projections for certain things, so this wouldn't be any different.

The NFL will do whatever makes them the most money, period, end of story. Sure they may want a huge, up-front fee but we all know DirecTV was losing truckloads of money under the current arrangement. So if all the cable and satellite providers refuse to offer a huge flat fee, then the NFL won't exactly be standing on principle; they'll take whatever deal gives them the most $$.

If the cable companies collectively say "We will give you $500 million up front, or $250 of every subscription sold" which do you think the NFL would take?

 

[JMC00]

You don't have to be a DirecTV subscriber to get Sunday Ticket now. You can get it through your PS3.. This is the 3rd year that they are doing this.

No more Sunday Ticket on PS3

DirecTV benches PS3 from its NFL Sunday Ticket app | Internet & Media - CNET News

 

[Drewski]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but if Google and Youtube are involved in airing games, another at home option would be a Chromecast.

Its an HDMI dongle you just plug into your tv and wirelessly play media (Youtube for one) from your phone/tablet.

I use Android, but in talking to some friends, there is some compatibility with iOS devices.

Sold out now (big hit) but is available normally for like $35.

PS - this isn't a product plug. I'm just a nerd.

PPS - Does Netflix too

 

[Gwedd]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but if Google and Youtube are involved in airing games, another at home option would be a Chromecast.

Its an HDMI dongle you just plug into your tv and wirelessly play media (Youtube for one) from your phone/tablet.

I use Android, but in talking to some friends, there is some compatibility with iOS devices.

Sold out now (big hit) but is available normally for like $35.

PS - this isn't a product plug. I'm just a nerd.

PPS - Does Netflix too

As I posted earlier on this thread, I needed a new Home Theater System, and settled on this one: LG BH6830SW It's an LG 5.1 with rear wireless speakers, BUT, it also picks up your wireless internet system and streams NetFlix, YouTube, Hulu, Pandora, and a variety of apps. It's got a great sound and, although a bit of an outlay, it was basically an upgrade for my TV without having to buy a new TV.

So no need to worry about running through a game console, etc. :

Respects,

 

[MassPats38]

It would depend on what the contracts look like for the subscribers, I would guess. My specific contract is up next year and I too only have DirecTV for Sunday Ticket. But there are thousands of people that will be stuck with DirecTV contracts after that. Google can show the NFL that they can give them more of a profit with the conceivable ability to outbid anyone else interested in entering the negotiations. For DirecTV to outbid Google could cause financial ruin in and of itself. Additionally, DirecTV was doing alright even before Sunday Ticket became available.

I didn't realize it before researching the question, but DirecTV and Sunday Ticket have been together since DirecTV began its subscription service in 1994.

I agree Google could use its audience to make the service profitable even at a lower subscription cost. With that said, I'm not sure DirecTV would do all that well without the suckers like us who sign up just for the NFL. Cable has gotten better since 1994, and on demand movies and accompanying Internet service seem like attractive draws when compared to DirecTV's fairly limited dynamic capabilities.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

If could be A LOT cheaper for Sunday Ticket if Google takes over!

 

[Pewsterbaby]

I think this would be fascinating in the abstract, and potentially very good for me as a football fan who watches almost no television except football. (As the first preseason game approached I actually had to go around asking my family, "Has anybody seen the tv? Do you remember where we put it?")

You're not missing a thing. American television is an embarrassment. On the free channels, you have an endless stream of singing & dancing competitions & talent shows in the prime time slots where there once resided quality dramas & comedies in the 60's thru 90's. Go up past PBS and there's dozens of cable channels that loop mindless drivel. Hey, MTV doesn't even play music videos anymore. Instead they show you fricking pregnant teenagers & Jersey goombahs. On the other cable stations, they give you not one, not two, but THREE freaking pawn shop shows. Get burnt out on those, well, switch to see what ol' Eustace is up to on Mountain Men. Need a chick fix? Check out that hottie on Ice Road Truckers. Yeah, but you know any chick who drives a rig has got to have major daddy issues. Anyway, I'll take her over those vapid plastic skanks on Jersey Housewives and it's spinoffs. Thank God they cancelled the one with the chick with the balloon lips. They're all whore wives of criminals anyway.
Anyway, that's about all there is on cable. Don't gimme no cherrypick crap like Breaking Bad or The Wire or whatever, because those are few & far between. Anyway, good writing like that USED to be on network t.v. every night. Yeah, back before yer average american became a dumbed-down tacky shadow of who they once were.
The decline of American culture is being televised and it's a fast downhill trainwreck.

As for Sunday Ticket, enough people upload free streams on firstrowsports, ILEMI, Vipbox, Atdhe, Myp2p, JustinTV, & Veetle. Sure they're not a million pixels per square inch but I don't need to see the individual blades of grass when I'm watching football. I'll leave that to the tech heads who brag about their freaking theater systems & hi-def this and that. Problem is, with most of those people, they're idiots when it actually comes to choosing what to watch on them. They're just as mindlessly programmed as the rest of the American population.
Anyway, take my word for it & don't go rummaging for your misplaced t.v. It's not worth the trouble these days.

Now, where's my Fellini box set? Oh, I dunno. German Expressionism from the 20's will do for now. Maybe sum Pinkie Violence afterwards.

 

[SB39]

If could be A LOT cheaper for Sunday Ticket if Google takes over!

What makes you say that?

 

[alamo]

If the cable companies collectively say "We will give you $500 million up front, or $250 of every subscription sold" which do you think the NFL would take?

History says neither, they would do something differently to generate a higher rights payment from someone willing to lose money on it. That's what they've always done. (And in this case specifically why Google would be involved).

Sports (most especially the NFL) is the biggest audience draw in a fracturing media landscape, and exclusivity is a key. There are so many viewing choices that ratings are down universally, an exclusive live NFL game is one of the few ways a network has to reach a significant part of the population at one time.

The NFL is in the drivers seat and they know it.

 

[PlainOldEd]

I would happy if that happens. I get out of my DirecTV contract next year (specifically planned it out for the bidding, since I figured DirecTV didn't want to keep paying $1 Billion out of pocket for the right to have Sunday Ticket) and would like to switch back to Comcast, even though they're also a bunch of crooks. DirecTV just really sucks. If there's a single dark cloud in the sky hovering over my house, the signal craps out. Comcast always pulled the old bait and switch, but at least their service is somewhat consistent. The bid for Sunday Ticket going to Google, who has more money than God, would be excellent for me as I'm an Xbox owner.

After Comcast pulls the bait and switch if you call them and threaten to leave they will throw you some kind of "discount". Of course it is always reatively cheaper to get the bigger package. so you end up getting screwed anyway, just less screwed.....

 

[SB39]

History says neither, they would do something differently to generate a higher rights payment from someone willing to lose money on it. That's what they've always done. (And in this case specifically why Google would be involved).

I'm not quite sure you can fall back on "history" when all you have is 1 company which was willing to lose money to carry the Sunday Ticket exclusively, and now it looks like they've reached the end of the line. Maybe Dish would be willing to take on Sunday Ticket as a loss leader, but I honestly doubt it. Also, you could never give exclusivity to a cable company since no single cable company covers the entire nation like DirecTV does. Time Warner may be the closest but those cheap S.O.B.'s would never give the up front fees the NFL wanted.

Sports (most especially the NFL) is the biggest audience draw in a fracturing media landscape, and exclusivity is a key. There are so many viewing choices that ratings are down universally, an exclusive live NFL game is one of the few ways a network has to reach a significant part of the population at one time.

The NFL is in the drivers seat and they know it.

I think you're confusing networks with programming providers. We're not talking about CBS, which has exclusive broadcast rights to Patriots-Broncos. We're talking about who will get the Sunday Ticket package after next year.