Cord cutters rejoice: DirecTV is finally making the NFL Sunday ticket available to football fans without a pay TV subscription. The satellite TV provider is about to launch a new online service, dubbed NFLSundayTicket.TV, that will offer access to NFL games that were previously only available to DirecTV subscribers. However, it looks like eligibility is limited to people who can’t get DirecTV.
The new service will be available in three service tiers when it officially launches in September: A $200, season-long package will give users access to live, out-of-market games on computers and mobile devices. A $240 package lets you watch games on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3 or Playstation 4, and a $330 package includes both mobile and PC as well as game console access as well as other exclusive features.
On the mobile front, the service will offer apps for iPads, iPhones and a variety of Android devices, but iOS users will apparently not be able to use AirPlay to watch games on Apple TVs.
The bigger drawback of the service is that many sports fans won’t have access to it. Prospective buyers have to enter their home address to see whether they're eligible, and many are turned away, just like I was when I tested it with my San Francisco Bay Area address.
It looks like DirecTV is checking whether applicants live in single-home residencies, which could theoretically get satellite TV, or apartments, where satellite dishes are often blocked. Two of my co-workers who live in apartment buildings were told that they're eligible.
NFLSundayTicket.TV also offers price-reduced packages for college students, but the list of eligible colleges is fairly short as well and includes Ohio State University, University of Southern California, Havard University and Syracuse University along with a few others. And like most sports streaming packages, the NFL SundayTicket.TV still comes with blackout rules for local games.
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