YouTube is taking over the NFL Sunday Ticket package [Updated]
Enlarge / SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 11: The San Francisco 49ers new star quarterback, Brock Purdy, celebrates during a blowout 35-7 win over the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. (credit: Getty Images/Thearon W. Henderson)
Update: The deal is done. The NFL has announced YouTube will be the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket. The deal starts with the 2023 NFL Season, which will kick off sometime in September.
The distribution is a bit of a surprise, here's what the NFL says:
Starting next season, NFL Sunday Ticket will be available on two of YouTube's growing subscription businesses as an add-on package on YouTube TV and standalone a-la-carte on YouTube Primetime Channels.
YouTube TV basically replicates the experience of bundled cable TV channels, just over the Internet, so a Sunday Ticket package on top of the $65-a-month service was expected. What's not expected is that you don't have to buy YouTube TV at all; you can just order Sunday Ticket (still for all 32 teams bundled together) without forking over money for the usual cable channels first. YouTube "Primetime Channels" is just the YouTube.com storefront where you can buy or rent hollywood movies, and now Sunday Ticket will show up as an option there. So there are options for cord cutters that want to keep the cable TV experience (YouTube TV) and an option for people that just want football.