YouTube will allow football fans to pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket in installments instead of as a one-time payment, the service announced on Wednesday.
Starting this week, streamers who sign up for the NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube Primetime Channels or as part of their YouTube TV subscription will be allowed to buy the package through four payments, with the first payment due at time of purchase.
Officials said YouTube decided to offer the monthly installment option based on customer feedback, which included requests that the service provide a way to purchase NFL Sunday Ticket on a monthly basis instead of as a lump sum payment.
Typically, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $450 per season when purchased through YouTube, or $350 per season when purchased as an add-on to a YouTube TV plan. YouTube says the monthly installment price is determined by dividing the normal, one-time payment price by four.
With that said, new subscribers to the NFL Sunday Ticket who purchase the installment option will have to pay the following monthly rates:
- YouTube TV (before September 19): $75/month
- YouTube TV (after September 19): $87.50/month
- YouTube (before September 19): $100/month
- YouTube (after September 19): $112.50/month
There are some limitations with the monthly installment plan: Due to various local laws, the installment option isn’t available in seven states — Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nevada and Tennessee. And there wasn’t any information offered by YouTube whether customers could also tack on NFL RedZone, which typically costs an extra $40 when purchased through NFL Sunday Ticket.
YouTube also announced plans for a student rate that will allow eligible students at accredited colleges and universities to pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket at a reduced price. It wasn’t clear from the announcement if students will have to pay for the package all at once, or if the monthly option will be extended to them as well.
Officials at YouTube said they are working on a number of other features, including multiple multiview screens that will allow NFL Sunday Ticket buyers to watch several games at once (though, due to technical limitations, it appears YouTube will determine which games are offered through multiview screens, and won’t allow subscribers to create multiview screens on their own — a similar feature is offered for news, business and general sports channels now, with no way to customize the channels).
And YouTube will offer a “key plays” feature through NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube Primetime Channels that will enable football fans to skip to a key moment during and after games. The feature is already offered for most popular sports on YouTube TV.
NFL Sunday Ticket is expected to launch through YouTube Primetime Channels and YouTube TV on September 9.
