DirecTV isn’t losing NFL Sunday Ticket’s commercial business after all.
DirecTV and EverPass Media confirmed Friday that they’ve settled on new multi-year terms, with DirecTV handling sales, marketing and distribution for EverPass across the board, not just Sunday Ticket, but EverPass’ full slate of commercial rights, meaning the Netflix and Peacock windows too.
That agreement came together just months after the two sides were headed the opposite direction. Sportico’s Jacob Feldman reported in March that EverPass had told customers it would become the sole commercial provider of Sunday Ticket starting this season, ending DirecTV’s satellite-based access and pushing venues onto EverPass’ own hardware or Spectrum’s Xumo boxes instead.
DirecTV disputed that framing, posting on its own DirecTV for Business blog that EverPass had “failed to meaningfully engage with DIRECTV following months of proposals at terms consistent with the prior agreement,” while EverPass told Sportico its hardware was “delivering a solution built for where the industry is going, not where it has been.”
EverPass CEO Alex Kaplan framed Friday’s about-face as expanding options rather than retreating from that streaming-only plan.
“This agreement is about creating greater availability for bars, restaurants and other commercial businesses so they can offer NFL Sunday Ticket and other live sports content, with flexibility in how they receive the service,” Kaplan said.
The larger arc here traces back to 2023, when the NFL and RedBird Capital formed EverPass specifically to hold Sunday Ticket’s commercial rights after YouTube took the residential package away from DirecTV, with DirecTV signing on then as a non-exclusive distribution partner. the three-year distribution agreement that set all of this in motion is the one that actually expired this offseason, and its lapse is what triggered the streaming-only mandate covered in March, before turning into Friday’s reversal instead.
Per Sports Business Journal, the agreement extends past Sunday Ticket alone, giving DirecTV for Business customers the ability to subscribe to EverPass’ other premium sports offerings as well. DirecTV for Business will also continue carrying its existing lineup outside the deal, including NFL RedZone, ESPN+, MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice and MLS Season Pass.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.