When it comes to live sports, businesses still prefer satellite to streaming.
This week, DirecTV announced a new multi-year deal that will see it offer live access to the National Football League’s (NFL) Sunday Ticket for business subscribers — those who operate public establishments like bars, restaurants and similar venues — easing some concerns raised by businesses over the viability of providing live sports over a streaming service.
Google-owned YouTube TV clinched the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket for residential customers earlier this year, but the move to stream has caused concern among some business owners, who are worried that their establishments might not have the proper equipment to support broadcasting football games across multiple screens. Businesses are also worried at the sizable investment in new equipment to replace traditional satellites, and concerns over streaming reliability and latency have grown louder over the years.
Earlier this year, the NFL announced it was forming a new joint venture called EverPass Media that specifically sought to address the issue of delivering live sports to businesses as more live telecast rights move to streaming. The deal reached with DirecTV this week involves EverPass Media, according to a report published by CNBC. The Desk was the first to report that DirecTV was in discussion with EverPass Media for the rights to deliver NFL Sunday Ticket games to businesses.
Many bars and restaurants already have DirecTV equipment in their businesses, owing to the fact that DirecTV had the multi-year exclusive rights to the package for more than a decade. The NFL Sunday Ticket offers live access to out-of-market games aired on CBS and Fox stations across the country.
“DirecTV for Business delivers a market-leading, consistent and reliable sports viewing experience to fans in more than 300,000 bars, restaurants and other commercial establishments across the United States,” Mike Wittrock, the chief sales and services officer at DirecTV, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with EverPass and continue carriage of NFL Sunday Ticket.”
The addition of NFL Sunday Ticket incorporates more live sports offered by DirecTV for Business from traditional and streaming platforms. DirecTV for Business also simulcasts Apple TV Plus’ Thursday Night Baseball and Major League Soccer games, and Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football games.
