NFL and DirecTV Announce Extension of ‘Sunday Ticket’ Deal

The NFL Sunday Ticket is here to stay for DirecTV subscribers!

The National Football League announced Wednesday that it has extended its agreement with DirecTV for eight more years. The deal, which enables subscribers to view out of market Sunday afternoon games through DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket package, is expected to net the NFL an average of $1.5 billion annually. Although exact terms of the contract were not disclosed, the new agreement is a steep 50 percent increase over the current $1 billion a year deal, which expires at the end of the 2014 - 2015 season. And the exponentially large increase proves that the NFL is still doing better than ever, even after its latest controversies with Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and other players. 

According to Mike White, the president and CEO of DirecTV, “The new agreement is a testament to the terrific long-term relationship we have with the NFL and millions of fans across the country. NFL Sunday Ticket has always been the centerpiece of DirecTV’s sports leadership and we’re pleased to continue our relationship with the NFL and be a part of the league’s future growth and success.” 

With the new contract, DirecTV will continue to provide the premium football game ‘Sunday Ticket’ package, along with access to extra features beyond the live Sunday games, including the Red Zone Channel, Game Mix with eight games on one screen, and a new Fantasy Zone channel. The deal also expands DirecTV’s ability to stream games to mobile devices, so all subscribers will be able to watch the game on the go using their tablets or phones.

The Sunday Ticket package currently has around 2 million DirecTV U.S. subscribers, but that number is expected to grow. With DirecTV’s mobile access program, subscribers won’t have to put a satellite dish on their roof to have Sunday Ticket. They can easily get access without subscribing to cable! Plus, if the Federal Communications Commission approves the purchase of DirecTV by AT&T, this would add about 6 million U-verse pay TV subscribers and around 100 million mobile device customers to DirecTV’s subscriber base.