The NFL isn’t likely to start offering football fans the option of buying individual out-of-market games or a broadcast season ticket for single team, according to Sports Illustrated.
“We’ve never liked that model,” NFL chief media officer Brian Rolapp told Sports Illustrated‘s Monday Morning Quarterback. “We haven’t heard a ton of that in our fan research that they want that. We think the value of the product is pretty good. Is there an opportunity for less than all games, maybe. We haven’t seriously talked about à la carte games. That’s nowhere really in our future.”
It’s unclear how sports fans would respond to the ability to purchase individual games, but potential viewers might appreciate more options than just shelling out a few hundred dollars for the NFL Sunday Ticket package or another provider. Another possible solution could be a team pass, which would let fans access an individual team’s full game season, Awful Announcing‘s Ben Axelrod suggests.
Still, the NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV has become a popular way for sports fans to get their football fix. With more games being streamed exclusively, the relationship between streaming companies and sports leagues seems to only be strengthening. Tapping live sports is also a way for both cable and streaming services to reach viewers and make money.
For example, Disney and Charter struck a deal last month that would provide Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers ESPN+ for free.
In addition, YouTube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket games package held its own during the first Sunday game of the NFL season in September. Many doubted YouTube TV’s ability to handle the viewer demand, especially with the risky extra step Google took in offering a free trial of the service the same weekend. Earlier this month, Google said it’s focused on polishing its Sunday Ticket package.
Amazon also hosts the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package. The ecommerce giant pays about $1 billion annually for Thursday Night Football, which garnered an average of 12.9 million viewers year-to-date this season and has seen six consecutive weeks of double-digit year-over-year audience increases.