YouTube Announces Major Change To NFL Sunday Ticket After Technical Difficulties

From Aaron Rodgers tearing his achilles in Week 1 to Davante Adams running out of things to say about the Las Vegas Raiders, the 2023 NFL season has not lacked for drama.

And those fans who are subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV have caught pretty much all of it.

That is, until this past Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET window, when YouTube experienced widespread buffering problems across its products.

Now, as we reach the halfway point in the season, YouTube has announced a major change to its Sunday Ticket package.

Whether it was brought about by the technical issues or not, YouTube announced  lowered the base package of Sunday Ticket to $174 from $349 according to Front Office Sports. It also dropped the version of Sunday Ticket with NFL RedZone included from $389 to $194.

Could the move have come in reaction to the issues? Sure.

But  YouTube chief business officer Mary Ellen Coe previously told Deadline that a prorated subscription with fewer games remaining was “in the mix” for the steamer

“Ultimately, we want to make sure that pricing is relative to what the user-value proposition is,” she said.

YouTube agreed to pay $14 billion for seven years of exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package. Though it may come to regret that move.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley does not expect it to be profitable for Google. But the report shows that it could improve its profitability over time.

Some fans, however, aren’t sold on the new “deal.”

“Google blames price reduction on a glitch. Maybe it’s due to people not willing to pay such ridiculous amount but media wont ever admit that,” tweets @Akwuchronicles.

Whatever the reason, it’s a major change.

And one that could pay off in a big way if it helps move YouTube in the direction of profitability on its massive investment.