YouTube reaches NFL Sunday ticket deal

RedZone, a popular feature that allows fans to watch Sunday games when teams come into scoring range, will no longer be available on DirecTV, but the NFL will continue to produce its own version of the broadcast, according to two unauthorized people familiar with the matter. to speak out. This feature will be available to users through cable providers, such as Comcast, or through their YouTube Sunday Ticket subscription.

In recent months, the league has explored selling a stake in NFL Network, its media arm, as part of its Sunday Ticket package. Those talks did not result in an agreement, and the NFL will continue those talks, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Sunday Ticket bundle may prove to be a boon for YouTube, which has been eager to expand its subscriptions because its main business — advertising — has gone down. Football games can attract more sports fans to YouTube TV, which is already the most popular pay-TV service on the Internet. The company said in July that it did Five million subscribersbeating out Hulu + Live TV.

YouTube gets the bulk of its revenue from advertising on videos uploaded by users. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported in October that stubborn inflation and a slowing economy had prompted advertisers to cut back on spending, causing YouTube ad sales to shrink nearly 2% in the past quarter.

The disappointing results gave added urgency to a years-old plan to expand YouTube in other ways. The company said in November that it had done so 80 million paying subscribers for its ad-free premium music and services, up from 50 million a year ago. Earlier this year, YouTube said YouTube TV had more than five million paid and beta users.

“YouTube has always been a home for soccer fans, whether they’re streaming live games, catching up on their local team, or catching the best plays at highlights,” Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, said in a statement.

The deal caps years of industry speculation about who will get the coveted game package that began in 2019 when John Stankey, chief operating officer of former DirecTV owner AT&T, said the company was. rethinking Its deal for a Sunday ticket.