DIRECTV to Reimburse Subscribers For Sunday Ticket Streaming Issues
In what will be the last NFL season in which DIRECTV will hold the exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market package, it has been a frustrating start for those looking to stream games with Sunday Ticket Online. For the second week in a row, football fans logging on to the package were greeted with error messages and other technical troubles.
While the satellite broadcast of the package had no issues, difficulties emerged with customers attempting to stream Sunday Ticket Online. Now, DIRECTV has apologized and announced that it will be reimbursing customers affected by the problems in Week 2. The issues did not affect the overall DIRECTV streaming experience outside of the Sunday Ticket package.
“We recognize we didn’t meet expectations on Sunday for customers looking to stream some of the games, and we want to apologize,” the DIRECTV said on Sunday. “While it won’t bring the games back, we plan to reach out to those affected to automatically reimburse them for week two.”
A subscription package that allows football fans to watch all of the league’s games on Sunday afternoons, Sunday Ticket has been exclusive to DIRECTV ever since it first launched in 1994. However, the satellite company’s deal with the league expires following this season, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said that he believes that the package will be broadcast by a streaming partner beginning in 2023, with an announcement likely coming sometime this fall.
Apple TV+ and Prime Video are seen as the favorites to take over Sunday Ticket, although Google was reportedly a late addition to the negotiations as the tech company is interested in bringing the package to YouTube. DIRECTV is also believed to be interested in retaining the business rights for the package to allow them to broadcast Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants, as it does with Prime Video's “Thursday Night Football.” Since most interested establishments are familiar with DIRECTV and not especially set up to stream live sports it does seem like DIRECTV keeping a small piece of the Sunday Ticket is a distinct possibility.
NFL Sunday Ticket
NFL Sunday Ticket is a subscription video streaming service that allows football fans to watch every live out-of-market NFL game on Sunday afternoons on YouTube or YouTube TV.