The Best Sports Streaming Package Is Now Free But There’s A Catch
If you’re a sports fan, you may want to consider switching your wireless carrier to Verizon. As Deadline reports, the telecommunications giant has recently reached a deal with YouTube and the NFL that will allow them to offer NFL Sunday Ticket free to new customers. There is a caveat, however: Customers will have to buy or pre-order certain smartphones or sign up for select home internet plans to receive the service.
Verizon customers can access NFL Sunday Ticket at no extra charge, but only if they make new purchases or upgrades.
Existing Verizon customers feeling left out can also receive access to NFL Sunday Ticket by upgrading their existing Verizon plans to one of the qualifying plans the carrier is offering.
The History of NFL Sunday Ticket
NFL Sunday Ticket has been a popular sports package since DirecTV initially launched the service in 1994. Sunday Ticket offers a full schedule of Sunday football games regardless of where in the US the games are taking place, making it a superior option to local channels that only carry regional sports.
This upcoming football season will mark the first time that YouTube has owned the distribution rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, taking over from original owner DirecTV.
DirecTV recently sold the distribution to YouTube for a reported $2 billion a season as part of a multi-year deal between the two companies. While the NFL Sunday Ticket package was certainly popular for the 30 or so years that DirecTV held the rights, the NFL has been hinting at a desire to move on and partner with an actual tech company in order to increase its reach.
Enter Google-owned entertainment platform YouTube, which has already rolled out a variety of enhancements to NFL Sunday Ticket designed to improve customers’ viewing experience.
Meanwhile, Verizon has had a connection with the NFL for several years. The company’s 5G network is available in the majority of the NFL’s stadiums and is even used by football coaches during games. Verizon also offers access to the NFL’s streaming service, NFL+, on all of its smartphones and tablets.
This upcoming football season will mark the first time that YouTube has owned the distribution rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, taking over from original owner DirecTV.
Mobile customers interested in gaining access to NFL Sunday Ticket will be able to do so by choosing Verizon’s Unlimited Plus plan or by purchasing specific Samsung, Google, and Motorola devices. Customers who look to Verizon for all of their home internet needs will be able to qualify for NFL Sunday Ticket by signing up for Fios 1 Gig, Fios 2 Gig, 5G Home Pluse, and even some LTE home plans.
As if that wasn’t enough sports goodness, Verizon also revealed that in select cities, fans meeting the criteria to receive NFL Sunday Ticket access will also be eligible to receive up to $150 in Fanatics gift cards good for sports apparel or other merchandise from their favorite team. No word yet on which cities will be eligible for the gift cards.
Football fans are some of the lucky few not affected by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, as it doesn’t pertain to live sports programming. Depending on how long the strike lasts, Verizon’s NFL Sunday Ticket offer may prove to be a popular one as people scramble to find something new to watch once they run out of content shot before the strike.
