NFL, DIRECTV Make It Official, Extend Sunday Ticket Deal

The NFL and DIRECTV have extended and expanded DIRECTV’s exclusive rights to carry NFL SUNDAY TICKET and its package of every Sunday afternoon out-of-market game through a new multi-year agreement. The new agreement, which reportedly averages $1.5 billion per year (a 50% increase from the previous four-year deal), also expands DIRECTV’s rights to stream NFL SUNDAY TICKET via its NFL SUNDAY TICKET.TV platform on mobile devices and broadband.

Under the new pact, DIRECTV will also continue to broadcast its RED ZONE CHANNEL and its new DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE channel that debuted this season. In addition, DIRECTV and the NFL also extended their NFL Network distribution relationship with DIRECTV to offer its customers TV Everywhere access to NFL Network anytime, anywhere on virtually any device.

The deal also helps pave the way AT&T’s attempt to purchase DirecTV for $49 billion. DirecTV’s failure to renew its SUNDAY TICKET deal would have been an immediate deal breaker for the merger, according to the terms stipulated back in May.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with DIRECTV,” says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “DIRECTV and NFL SUNDAY TICKET have served our fans well for 20 years and continue to complement our broadcast television packages. We also appreciate DIRECTV’s commitment to NFL Network, which it has carried since the channel launched in 2003.”

In July, DIRECTV announced NFLSundayTicket.TV, a service aimed at college campuses and apartment dwellers unable to install a dish that allows customers to stream live, out-of-market NFL games without a DIRECTV satellite TV subscription. This multi-year extension cements this new service as a staple of SUNDAY TICKET.

“This new agreement is a testament to the terrific long-term relationship we have with the NFL and its millions of fans across the country,” says Mike White, chairman, president and CEO of DIRECTV.  “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.”

Under the new NFL SUNDAY TICKET agreement, DIRECTV will continue to offer all out-of-market Sunday afternoon games in HD. DIRECTV customers who purchase NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX will also have access to the online/mobile service to watch their games on virtually any device; a Game Mix channel with up to eight games on one screen; both the RED ZONE CHANNEL and new DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE channel; and Short Cuts, which offers replays of each Sunday game in 30 commercial-free minutes.

The new DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE channel is devoted entirely to fantasy football and fields a team of fantasy experts offering real-time game-to-game fantasy analysis and statistics powered by NFL.com Fantasy.

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