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NFL, YouTube TV Clash Over NFL Sunday Ticket Distribution in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands

David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
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David Satin

Are cracks already starting to appear in the façade of the NFL’s relationship with YouTube TV? That may indeed be the case, as Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reports that the two sides are feuding over the distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

This is the first season that YouTube TV holds the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket in the United States. DIRECTV was the previous rights holder, having been home to the package of out-of-market games since its inception in 1994. Ourand reports that since YouTube TV won’t be ready to launch NFL Sunday Ticket in Puerto Rico and the USVI until November, the league wants to use DIRECTV to distribute the package until then.

YouTube TV is less than enthused about that proposal and is blocking the NFL from following through with it. DIRECTV will still serve as the distributor of NFL Sunday Ticket commercially this season, meaning bars and restaurants will still have to subscribe to that service to offer the games to patrons.

It’s understandable that the league would want to ensure one of its highest-priced TV offerings is available to as many customers as possible throughout the season, and would turn to DIRECTV to offer the product in the two territories. It also makes sense that YouTube TV doesn’t want that to happen, as it will leave customers more confused about where to find Sunday Ticket and force it to allow DIRECTV to profit off a package it rightfully owns.

There have been plenty of signs already that YouTube TV isn’t seeing as much success as it wants with NFL Sunday Ticket in the leadup to the NFL season. The number of deals and discounts available on Sunday Ticket is one warning, and the fact that YouTube TV is offering a free trial to Sunday Ticket to non-subscribers for the first time in the service’s history is another. Some analysts believe that YouTube TV will need to attract more than twice the number of subscribers that NFL Sunday Ticket ever had in its DIRECTV heyday just to break even on its $2 billion per-season deal with the league.

For $2 billion per year, YouTube TV has the right to feel like it’s the exclusive distribution partner of NFL Sunday Ticket in U.S. homes. But since it won’t be ready to launch in Puerto Rico and the USVI until November, the NFL wants to give those users some way of accessing the service before then… if YouTube will let it.

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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.

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If you use YouTube TV as your live TV provider, you’ll save $100 off the package price.

Users can choose to add NFL RedZone, which bounces from game to game. But Sunday Ticket is superior for fans who want to see every play of their favorite teams, even if they don’t live where the games are locally televised.

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David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Read full bio ›
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