In what is expected to be DirecTV’s final year as the exclusive home of Sunday Ticket, it appears that they’re going out with a bang. When many football fans tuned in to watch highly anticipated Week 1 action, DirecTV’s website and app were either down or blocking out users who should have been able to watch games.
Different users reported different problems with DirecTV early on Sunday. Some were locked out of the service. Others received error messages claiming incorrectly that they were located inside an NFL stadium. Others couldn’t even sign in. Others still reported that the feed was lagging by extensive amounts of time.
I am not near an NFL stadium but Directv thinks I am so the Sunday Ticket app I paid for doesn’t work. @DIRECTV continues to provide terrible customer service. pic.twitter.com/Mzv1TUpJF0
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) September 11, 2022
DIRECTV charges $83 a month for NFL Sunday ticket to stream. This morning the servers are crashing and the telling us that’s the way it goes. Try again…Are you kidding me? What a scam
— jeffrey zink (@jeffreyzink) September 11, 2022
NFL Sunday ticket is horrible.
— Brandon King (@BrandonKing4787) September 11, 2022
Looks like Sunday Ticket is also in regular-season form, which isn’t a good thing 🤦🏾♂️
— Moe Moton (@MoeMoton) September 11, 2022
Apparently @NFL Sunday Ticket has 💩the bed nationally…can’t watch any games on iPad because I’m 25 miles from an NFL stadium. They haven’t even addressed it. Refund time!
— Scott Gulbransen (@LVGully) September 11, 2022
The @DIRECTV Sunday Ticket is the biggest POS app in app history. If you live within 50 miles of a stadium, it’s blacking you out of all games. Pathetic.
— Michael Salfino (@MichaelSalfino) September 11, 2022
my sunday ticket feed is 86 minutes behind lol
— Jessica Smetana (@jessica_smetana) September 11, 2022
“We’re aware some customers are be unable to access NFL Sunday Ticket online or through the app,” DirecTV said in a statement, via Eli Blumenthal. “In the meantime, we recommend satellite customers to watch on TV.”
Considering many DirecTV viewers were likely out at bars or signed up for the service because they don’t have local TV service, that advice probably fell on some pretty deaf ears.
DirecTV is also pretty used to apologizing for streaming issues involving Sunday Ticket. And considering this is the last season they’ll be the exclusive rights holders, there isn’t too much incentive for them to fix the issues at this point. NFL fans should probably expect to hear a few more apologies and recommendations to find alternative viewing options in the weeks ahead.
Hopefully, Google or Apple or whoever ends up getting the rights can figure out how to avoid these kinds of issues, though NFL viewers have been trained to expect the worst at this point. Lord knows they’re going to pay enough for the rights.
Speaking of, The Verge reported that NFL Plus, which is supposed to allow you to watch live in-market games, was also causing headaches for subscribers. There were reports of game scores not loading and an inability to get streams to load.
.@NFL the #GBvsMIN game is busted on #NFLplus pic.twitter.com/n0eNmfS8mP
— RJ Moore (@theRJMoore) September 11, 2022
There were also apparently some issues with NFL RedZone for Sling TV and YouTube TV subscribers.
RedZone seems to be having issues across a few platforms. Can’t get it to play on Sling TV, NFL app or DirecTV a Sunday Ticket app. Anyone able to watch? pic.twitter.com/uFZMgJWGMQ
— Eli Blumenthal (@eliblumenthal) September 11, 2022
Anyone else having issues with RedZone on NFL app not working on a smart TV through cable authentication? pic.twitter.com/ksK8uBcBwu
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) September 11, 2022
Anyone else's NFL RedZone down on YouTube TV?
— Global Elite office only (@0nemisterjones) September 11, 2022
We are aware that some customers currently do not have access to RedZone. We're actively working to resolve the issue.
— Sling Answers (@slinganswers) September 11, 2022
The fun never ends for many NFL viewers.
