Good news for football fans: A new survey from DirecTV suggests that its NFL Sunday Ticket Service could soon become available on a wide array of connected devices, even for users that don’t subscribe to its satellite TV service. But by making its subscription football service available over-the-top, DirecTV could be killing off one of the primary reasons to sign up for DirecTV in the first place.
As reported by Engadget, a recent subscriber survey conducted by DirecTV polled subscribers about various pricing scenarios for its NFL Sunday Ticket Service, which gives subscribers access to all NFL games during the football season. The survey suggests that future subscribers may be able to access the digital version of the service through connected Blu-ray players, game consoles and set-top boxes like the Apple TV, Boxee Box or the Roku player.
The survey takes into account various pricing scenarios, including one under which the digital service would be available for $39.99 a month for non-subscribers to the regular DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket service, or $9.99 for digital access to existing Sunday Ticket users. An alternate pricing plan would ask for $49.99 a month for the digital service but make it free for regular subscribers. The latter plan would also include an option for users to pay $19.99 for access to the service for a weekend at a time, enabling those without local access to interesting matchups on certain weekends to tune in pretty much on-demand.
NFL fans can already sign up for the digital video version of NFL Sunday Ticket, but currently it’s only available on desktops and some mobile devices for $350 per year. Making it available on connected TVs — and devices connected to TVs — will make it easier for would-be subscribers to watch games on the biggest screen in the home, rather than squinting at their laptop screens or having to go through the hassle of hooking a PC up to their TVs.
While the new digital features would be good for consumers, they’re likely bad for DirecTV’s overall business. It might see some incremental revenue from NFL Sunday Ticket users that live in apartment buildings without satellite dishes. But for users who are big enough football fans that they would subscribe anyway, the over-the-top option will be a disincentive to sign up for satellite.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Brian Cantoni.
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