Monday, August 17, 2009, 8:33am PDT
Report: DirecTV to try out NFL Sunday Ticket on the ’Net
Los Angeles Business from bizjournals
New York City residents will soon be able to stream NFL Sunday Ticket games from DirectTV online, according to a report from SportsBusiness Journal.
El Segundo-based DirecTV will test the service out in New York -- a market where its service is sometimes thwarted by the skyscrapers and dominated by exclusive cable contracts. Testing will begin next year, the report states.
USA Today reports that broadband customers will need to download a special video player and use a special code to watch the games. Users will be able to install the software to view the games on more than one computer, but only a single computer will be able to stream games at any particular time. The NFL package will cost $349.99, the Journal states.
About 2 million DirecTV's subscribers pay $299 a season to watch Sunday Ticket games on television. For $100 more, subscribers get a Superfan package that includes broadband.
Comcast, a large player in the New York, area has its own strategy.
On Sept. 13, the first Sunday of the regular season, Comcast, plans to roll out the NFL RedZone channel on its sports and entertainment tier. Comcast is the country's largest cable operator. The move thrusts the league into yet another round of carriage battles with the cable industry.
So far, little is known about the fledgling channel, which is mirrored after the Red Zone Channel from DirecTV’s popular Sunday Ticket service — right down to the same name, though with a different structure. Both services are tailored for fantasy football enthusiasts, providing live look-ins to the league’s Sunday afternoon games, plus updated statistics and scoring plays.
Report: DirecTV to try out NFL Sunday Ticket on the ?Net - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals: