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YouTube is adding a month-to-month option to NFL Sunday Ticket this season, increasing the flexibility—albeit with a price hike—of the out-of-market media-rights package that is the center of a $14 billion antitrust lawsuit.
For the first time since Sunday Ticket was launched in 1994, viewers will be able to purchase the service for a single month, as opposed to the entire season, which costs $276 for new users (with a YouTube TV subscription) and $378 for returning users.
Beginning in September, monthly Sunday Ticket plans will be available for $85 up to four payments ($340) for new users (with a YouTube TV subscription) and $115 for returning users ($460). Those monthly price points are $16 and $20.50 higher, respectively, than the full-season Sunday Ticket plans would cost across four months.
Sunday Ticket, including the monthly plan, is also available via YouTube for non–YouTube TV subscribers, although at even higher price points.
Flex Factor
Sunday Ticket’s lack of flexibility has been one complaint among NFL fans over the years, and was a key part of last summer’s antitrust suit that saw a jury side against the league in a verdict that would have totaled more than $14 billion.
However, a judge overturned that verdict, and the plaintiffs later appealed. The case would next be heard by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one step away from the U.S. Supreme Court.
While this season’s new monthly offering is notable, it still comes at a steep price—another point of contention in the trial—and there is still no weekly or single-game option for fans looking to purchase even fewer out-of-market broadcasts.
Multiview Expansion
YouTube is also expanding its Sunday Ticket multiview options to offer more combinations of local and national games for YouTube TV users. The streamer plans to gradually launch those improvements throughout the season, and a source told Front Office Sports that viewers will eventually be able to access all combinations of local and national games, which has not previously been the case.
Last season, Sunday Ticket added customizable multiview game options for the first time, after only offering preset combinations during the 2023 season. DirecTV, which last had Sunday Ticket during the 2022 season, offered a single multiview option each week.
YouTube TV has been adding more multiview options across other major sporting events this year like March Madness and even routine day-to-day programming.
