A big part of the DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket contract from its 1994 beginnings through its conclusion last season was with a “Free Sunday Ticket!” marketing promo to get new customers for the satellite service. DirecTV no longer carries Sunday Ticket for consumers (it does still offer it for businesses, including bars, restaurants, and gyms), but they’ve found a way to offer what’s essentially “Free Sunday Ticket” regardless.
The company announced Thursday that new DirecTV customers who sign up for their satellite service (or DirecTV via internet on a Gemini device) on a two-year plan and then sign up for Sunday Ticket through YouTube will receive a $400 Visa Rewards prepaid card. That will cover most to all of the cost of the Sunday Ticket package. Without a YouTube TV subscription, that price is currently $399 for the basic package, or $439 for the package including NFL Red Zone, but both of those prices are set to go up by $50 soon (after September 19). (However, the NFL RedZone addition won’t be needed here for everyone, as DirecTV is also offering three months of free access to its Sports Pack, which includes NFL Network and NFL RedZone, and is normally $15 a month.) Here’s more on that from their site:
DIRECTV wants its subscribers to be able to watch all their favorite out-of-market Sunday afternoon football games. Starting today, new DIRECTV customers who sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube for the 2023-2024 season will receive a $400 Visa reward card on us.
In tandem, new DIRECTV customers may also choose to receive three months of DIRECTV Sports Pack including Big Ten Network, SEC Network, ESPNU, NFL RedZone, NFL Network and more, providing football fans with the channels they need to get fully immersed in their favorite teams, games, events and more.
Meanwhile, new customers who sign up for DirecTV and don’t want to buy Sunday Ticket from YouTube can still get a $100 (with the basic Entertainment package, which starts at $65 a month before fees) or $200 gift card (with the Choice package, which starts at $85 a month before fees). But it’s this Sunday Ticket deal that’s particularly notable.
And while DirecTV is far from the only company offering Sunday Ticket promotions this fall (amongst others, Verizon is offering it free with a switch to an unlimited phone plan, Comcast and Frontier are offering $100 to $200 off with various internet/TV packages, TCL is offering $200 off with purchases of certain TVs, FanDuel’s offering $100 off for new bettors, and Bud Light is giving away 2,000 packages), it’s certainly interesting to see them doing one given their history with Sunday Ticket (and their continued distribution of it, and other streaming sports packages, to commercial establishments). And hey, if they can still get the marketing benefits of “Free Sunday Ticket!” without having to pay the $2.5 billion annually Google is reportedly paying the NFL, that seems to make some sense for them.
[DirecTV]
