CNBC Sport: Why bars and restaurants are shedding ‘Sunday Ticket’ subscriptions

By News Room Last updated Oct 18, 2024

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. As most NFL fans know, Google ‘s YouTube replaced DirecTV last year as the exclusive provider of “Sunday Ticket.” YouTube ended DirecTV’s nearly 30-year exclusive ownership of the out-of-market games package by paying the NFL $2 billion per year. What’s less known is the YouTube deal only applies to residential customers. DirecTV still provides bars, restaurants, small businesses and hotels with game access — but it no longer has the exclusive rights. That changed last year, too. Those additional rights are owned by EverPass Media , a new joint venture co-owned by the NFL and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners. EverPass struck a deal with DirecTV last year, allowing the satellite TV provider to maintain its commercial relationships. As a condition of that deal, EverPass included the right to build its own commercial streaming connection for “Sunday Ticket,” bypassing third-party licensing. That has now happened, as my colleague Lillian Rizzo reported in July . EverPass acquired UPshow, a platform with the tech capabilities to allow commercial establishments to stream live sports. EverPass sets all the pricing for “Sunday Ticket,” both for its new streaming product and DirecTV’s satellite offering. Both cost the same amount. If a small sports bar — fire code occupancy of less than 100 — received “Sunday Ticket” last year, it will pay $1,100 for the product this year, a $100 increase, according to a pricing document obtained by CNBC. The larger the establishment, the higher the price. A bar/restaurant that can fit more than 10,001 people has to pay $306,200 for the season. Just six weeks into this NFL season, DirecTV has lost more than 10% of its commercial customers, according to people familiar with the matter. Previously, DirecTV has said it serves about 300,000 commercial establishments. So while EverPass sets identical pricing for satellite and streaming, there are certain reasons why a commercial establishment may want the internet version over DirecTV, or vice versa. The streaming version of “Sunday Ticket” can be bundled in with other services EverPass provides, such as Peacock Sports Pass, the NBCUniversal streaming service’s commercial product, and Amazon Prime Video. So, if you also want to make sure your bar or restaurant has exclusive Peacock sports content and Prime Video’s exclusive “Thursday Night Football,” this may be appealing. Everpass also offers short-form channels to businesses, such as sports trivia, betting odds and viral videos, which may be appealing to certain establishments. On the flip side, satellite TV for commercial establishments still has far better latency than streaming. While DirecTV’s lag from actual events is usually a couple of seconds, streaming can be closer to a minute or longer. Sports bars concerned about having all of their TVs show games without a delay probably would opt for the DirecTV product. DirecTV also has different exclusive sports packages from EverPass, including MLS Season Pass from Apple, Friday night MLB doubleheaders, and ESPN+ for businesses. So, why the avalanche of DirecTV defections? One of three things is happening. The first two are pretty straightforward. 1) Some commercial establishments are switching to EverPass’ internet product. Part of the draw here is that EverPass offers discounts to first-time “Sunday Ticket” customers. Because DirecTV has never shared its customer data with EverPass, it’s possible some establishments are claiming they are first-year customers to get discounts when they’ve actually historically been DirecTV subscribers, according to people familiar with the matter. 2) Some commercial establishments are cutting the cord on pay TV in general. It’s not just households who don’t see the value of traditional TV anymore. If commercial establishments feel like they can survive without paying a monthly cable bill and instead rely on a few streaming services, then they’ll cancel DirecTV. Still, this is more likely to hit hotels and small businesses than sports bars, which may rely on ESPN. Until next year , at least, ESPN is only available via the traditional cable bundle, not streaming. The third option is arguably the most interesting. 3) Certain commercial establishments are using YouTube’s “Sunday Ticket” and paying residential prices, about $500 per year, instead of the higher business rates. This would hurt both DirecTV and EverPass. Indeed, EverPass has invested in technology to root out piracy, which it believes is happening, the company said in a statement. Identifying pesky “Sunday Ticket” rule-breakers has become easier because watermarks are embedded in the broadcasts, allowing EverPass to use advanced digital tracking tools and AI-based monitoring to identify unlicensed streams and pinpoint the source of distribution. EverPass also conducts in-person checks, according to a company spokesperson. Restaurateurs, be warned! “EverPass is deeply committed to protecting the rights of our customers and ensuring the integrity of NFL Sunday Ticket in the commercial marketplace,” the company said in a statement provided to CNBC. “Commercial establishments must have the proper licensing to show NFL Sunday Ticket, and those found in violation may face penalties, up to and including fines and/or legal action. EverPass remains vigilant in tracking and addressing piracy to uphold the value of our offering and protect the interests of our customers and partners.” The league is on to the problem, too. “The NFL has a long history of vigorously defending our intellectual property in all corners of our business, including ‘NFL Sunday Ticket,'” a league spokesman said in a statement to CNBC. “Policing media delivered via streaming brings new challenges and requires new solutions to enforce the rules, but we continue to be vigilant in this area and will pursue those who are accessing ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ in unauthorized ways.” YouTube said it is trying to ensure commercial venues do not show its “Sunday Ticket” offering. “We understand that piracy is a concern, and are taking measures to ensure that our NFL Sunday Ticket offering is made available only to residential customers. We continue to work on improving these efforts with all of our partners,” a YouTube spokesperson said. Still, it’s unclear how big of an issue YouTube piracy really is. DirecTV’s customer defections are far higher this year than last year, even though YouTube began selling its residential product in 2023. Perversely, there’s a silver lining to DirecTV’s declining commercial business. It announced a merger with longtime rival Dish Network last month . The “Sunday Ticket” wars are another example of new competition making the satellite TV business less monopolistic than it once was. On the record In an homage to both Passover and Craig Kilborn ‘s old bit, “Five Questions,” we’re asking the decision-makers in sports and media Four Questions. This week, our guest is Big East Conference Commissioner and former WNBA President Val Ackerman ! There are so many fascinating and unknown aspects to compensation for name, image and likeness — the evolving way athletes are paid in college sports — that it dominated our conversation. 1. Is NIL, in its current form, good for college athletics? Ackerman: I think that NIL is good for college athletes. There’s no question athletes have benefited greatly from these new income opportunities. Athletes of all types. The answer to your question as it relates to college athletics, if that includes the whole ecosystem, I will say that implementing NIL in the college space has been challenging. How to implement it in an environment where schools recruit, where transfer rules have been loosened up so that athletes can switch schools more easily, that’s been the real challenge. Athletes are now leaving their school to go to another school in part because of the money, particularly in high-revenue sports like football and men’s basketball. One could debate whether that’s good or not for college athletics, to have that sort of roster turnover. What that means for coaches trying to build teams, what it means for education … These kids jump around and pursue dollars with that potentially coming at the expense of degree completion. It remains to be seen. We’re frankly in the early stages of knowing what the bigger picture ramifications will be of all of this. The last thing I would say is the uncertainty this is creating around the future of the model is pretty significant. We’re now three years into NIL. It started in 2021 as a permissible benefit. Where we’ll be in three years from now, I can’t tell you. The uncertainty is debilitating in some ways, as it relates to trying to build out athletic departments and plans for their operations. 2. Along the lines of that uncertainty, can you imagine a world three years from now where the Big East and the other big conferences simply don’t exist? No one knows. I mean, if you gave me truth serum, I would tell you the same answer. No one knows where this is headed. Historically, teams were established based on geographic considerations, based on the similarity of school profile fit, the size of the school budget, and the prioritization of athletics in certain forms. And these were essentially scheduling alliances. And then, as a result of a Supreme Court decision , it became possible for conferences to aggregate their media rights. That became another connector to conferences. And so now we’re beginning to see the fraying of the historical ties that have bound these groupings. Geography, for example, at least in the case of some conferences, doesn’t seem as important anymore. I will be very interested to see how ping-ponging across the country works out for sports other than football, which plays once a week, and half the time at home. How will the travel affect basketball, where you’re playing multiple times a week over in the winter, in some cases where you’re dealing with flight delays, etc.? No one knows. We’re in the first year of that. Right now D1 is 360 schools. It’s a lot of schools that are very different, top to bottom. Right now the connective tissue for the schools is March Madness, the basketball tournament, because not everybody plays football. So to the extent that something’s holding all of this together, in my judgment right now, it’s the national championships, writ large, because everybody gets a chance to play for the national championship. 3. Are there any changes you’d recommend to help maintain a framework with some stability? I start with the premise that there needs to be a national governing body for college sports. We’re running national championships. You need an entity for no other reason than to run the national championships in all of the sports that are played at the collegiate level — all the rules around that: field size, eligibility, competition systems, officials — all that goes into this. The real question now is how far can the NCAA’s rulemaking body go. Frankly, our whole system wasn’t built for what’s happening now in terms of these incredible commercial outcomes. So how we evolve as a sector and figure out how to manage our commercial successes, how to deal with the variances among schools in terms of those outcomes, how to preserve this notion of Division 1 branding, how to keep the student athlete benefits intact, particularly for low-revenue sports who may be impacted because their schools may want to divert more money to the high-revenue sports … So the answer to your question, Alex, is I don’t have that model yet written up in my head. I have a sense of what value should remain and how we can reconcile antitrust concerns, employment questions, and the principles and goals of Title IX. This is what’s certainly keeping people up at night. I don’t have all the answers today, but obviously we’re involved in those discussions. 4. You mentioned low-revenue sports. How do you think that should be handled? The Big East already made an adjustment in 2013 to move away from football. But obviously you’ve had great success and stability with basketball. You’re right. I think we defied the odds and have proven in important ways that a basketball-centric conference can stay relevant and competitive and successful in what’s really a football driven space. What I think is very arguable is whether athletes in sports that don’t generate any revenue, which are essentially cost centers for their schools, should reap significant benefits from the schools by virtue of being on those teams. I was a scholarship basketball player in college. My sport was low visibility, didn’t make any money. I got a free ride out of it, graduated debt free. I got all the benefits. Should I be getting paid a salary? On top of everything else that I got from my alma mater? In all fairness, I don’t think I should have. I got a great deal. And for most athletes, they’re getting a great deal right now. It’s a very good quid pro quo for them. So I think the challenge, frankly, will be if we move to a revenue sharing model, is there any way to differentiate among athletes? Right now the law doesn’t have tests that were built for what’s happening in college sports. CNBC Sport highlight reel The best of CNBC Sport from the past week: Former NBCU CEO Jeff Shell will soon run another major media company, as long as regulators approve Skydance Media ‘s merger with Paramount Global next year. Shell will be Paramount’s president, and he’s likely to push hard on CBS’ investments in sports programming. My colleague Lillian Rizzo and I wrote about Shell and his possible plans for Paramount in a CNBC.com profile, which you can read here . Tom Brady is now an official owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. He and his business partner, Knighthead Capital co-founder Tom Wagner , acquired a 10% stake in the Raiders for around $220 million, valuing the team at about $3.5 billion, according to CNBC’s Michael Ozanian and Jessica Golden . Brady will own about 5% of the team personally, which means he officially can’t come back as a player unless he sells his stake, per league rules. He’ll also be restricted as a broadcaster , his current $375 million gig on Fox Sports. Brady appears to be getting quite the deal. CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations pegged the Raiders as the NFL’s fifth-most-valuable franchise, worth $7.8 billion, meaning Brady and Wagner got an over 50% discount. The typical discount for a limited partner with no say in how the team is run and no path to control ownership is 20% to 25%, according to sports bankers. We don’t need no stinkin’ NBA! Warner Bros. Discovery may lose the NBA after this season, due to pending litigation , but the cable network has inked a deal to be the exclusive home of Unrivaled, the new women’s basketball three-on-three league. Games will air on cable networks TNT and truTV, as well as streaming platform Max. Warner Bros. Discovery will also take an equity stake in the league. The WNBA is changing its Finals series from five games to seven and adding four games to its regular season next year. More here from CNBC’s Jake Piazza. When media rights deals are the main revenue drivers of sports, it makes sense to grow international audiences. The NFL is trying to grow its Latino and Spanish-speaking fans. Details from CNBC’s Rizzo. The big number: 8.3 million That’s the number of viewers who tuned in for Game 1 of the MLB NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, according to Nielsen . That’s more people than have watched any Game 1 of any LCS since 2009, Fox Sports said. It shows the power of compelling players ( Shohei Ohtani ), compelling teams (the magical Mets) and compelling media markets (L.A. and New York). At its peak, between 8:15 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET, more than 10 million viewers tuned in. Quote of the week “As an investor, what you want to make sure is that the valuation trajectory is connected to the business fundamentals of sports. The business fundamentals of North American sports is thriving. Revenue is growing, structural profitability is attractive, future growth potential is significant.” — Ian Charles, Arctos managing partner Charles appeared on CNBC this week to explain his thesis about why private equity investment in sports leagues is a wise investment. Arctos is one of the seven private equity funds approved to invest in the NFL and the only firm approved to invest in equity across each of the five most popular major North American sports leagues. Around the league The NFL is considering offering a new international package to media partners that could fetch more than $1 billion, reported Front Office Sports. NBC’s Peacock is adding local broadcast rights in Boston, Philadelphia and across Northern California for teams including the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia Phillies, when in season, according to The Wall Street Journal . It’s the first time the streaming service has included regional sports from networks owned by Comcast ‘s NBCUniversal. You might not know him yet, but you likely will by the 2028 Summer Olympics. Christian Miller , perhaps the next great U.S. sprinter, is turning pro straight out of high school. He has signed a professional contract with Puma, he told NBC News . Miller, who recently turned 18, finished fifth in the 100 meter at June’s U.S. Olympic track and field trials. Another week, another college sports realignment idea. This one has to do with the SEC and Big Ten creating more games against each other to maximize media rights revenue opportunities. A decade later, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he doesn’t regret publicly backing the spread of sports betting in a New York Times op-ed. Jim Dolan ‘s Sphere Entertainment announced that Abu Dhabi will become the home of the second Sphere. Sphere shares are up about 40% this year as the Las Vegas entertainment center has been a big success. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has hired an executive search firm to replace Greg Norman as LIV’s CEO, according to Sports Business Journal. Norman has had a rocky relationship with some of the biggest PGA stars, including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, after leading the breakaway rival golf league. Former WNBA All-Star and current ESPN host Chiney Ogwumike has launched the Queens of the Continent Foundation , dedicated to creating opportunities for girls throughout Africa to pursue passions in sport. Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

People watch Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs on televisions at a bar on February 12, 2023 in Newport Beach, California.

Visual China Group | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.

As most NFL fans know, Google‘s YouTube replaced DirecTV last year as the exclusive provider of “Sunday Ticket.” YouTube ended DirecTV’s nearly 30-year exclusive ownership of the out-of-market games package by paying the NFL $2 billion per year.

What’s less known is the YouTube deal only applies to residential customers. DirecTV still provides bars, restaurants, small businesses and hotels with game access — but it no longer has the exclusive rights. That changed last year, too. Those additional rights are owned by EverPass Media, a new joint venture co-owned by the NFL and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.

EverPass struck a deal with DirecTV last year, allowing the satellite TV provider to maintain its commercial relationships. As a condition of that deal, EverPass included the right to build its own commercial streaming connection for “Sunday Ticket,” bypassing third-party licensing. That has now happened, as my colleague Lillian Rizzo reported in July. EverPass acquired UPshow, a platform with the tech capabilities to allow commercial establishments to stream live sports.

EverPass sets all the pricing for “Sunday Ticket,” both for its new streaming product and DirecTV’s satellite offering. Both cost the same amount. If a small sports bar — fire code occupancy of less than 100 — received “Sunday Ticket” last year, it will pay $1,100 for the product this year, a $100 increase, according to a pricing document obtained by CNBC.

The larger the establishment, the higher the price. A bar/restaurant that can fit more than 10,001 people has to pay $306,200 for the season.

Just six weeks into this NFL season, DirecTV has lost more than 10% of its commercial customers, according to people familiar with the matter. Previously, DirecTV has said it serves about 300,000 commercial establishments.

So while EverPass sets identical pricing for satellite and streaming, there are certain reasons why a commercial establishment may want the internet version over DirecTV, or vice versa.

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The streaming version of “Sunday Ticket” can be bundled in with other services EverPass provides, such as Peacock Sports Pass, the NBCUniversal streaming service’s commercial product, and Amazon Prime Video. So, if you also want to make sure your bar or restaurant has exclusive Peacock sports content and Prime Video’s exclusive “Thursday Night Football,” this may be appealing. Everpass also offers short-form channels to businesses, such as sports trivia, betting odds and viral videos, which may be appealing to certain establishments.

On the flip side, satellite TV for commercial establishments still has far better latency than streaming. While DirecTV’s lag from actual events is usually a couple of seconds, streaming can be closer to a minute or longer. Sports bars concerned about having all of their TVs show games without a delay probably would opt for the DirecTV product. DirecTV also has different exclusive sports packages from EverPass, including MLS Season Pass from Apple, Friday night MLB doubleheaders, and ESPN+ for businesses.

So, why the avalanche of DirecTV defections? One of three things is happening. The first two are pretty straightforward.

1) Some commercial establishments are switching to EverPass’ internet product. Part of the draw here is that EverPass offers discounts to first-time “Sunday Ticket” customers. Because DirecTV has never shared its customer data with EverPass, it’s possible some establishments are claiming they are first-year customers to get discounts when they’ve actually historically been DirecTV subscribers, according to people familiar with the matter.

2) Some commercial establishments are cutting the cord on pay TV in general. It’s not just households who don’t see the value of traditional TV anymore. If commercial establishments feel like they can survive without paying a monthly cable bill and instead rely on a few streaming services, then they’ll cancel DirecTV. Still, this is more likely to hit hotels and small businesses than sports bars, which may rely on ESPN. Until next year, at least, ESPN is only available via the traditional cable bundle, not streaming.

The third option is arguably the most interesting.

3) Certain commercial establishments are using YouTube’s “Sunday Ticket” and paying residential prices, about $500 per year, instead of the higher business rates.

This would hurt both DirecTV and EverPass. Indeed, EverPass has invested in technology to root out piracy, which it believes is happening, the company said in a statement. Identifying pesky “Sunday Ticket” rule-breakers has become easier because watermarks are embedded in the broadcasts, allowing EverPass to use advanced digital tracking tools and AI-based monitoring to identify unlicensed streams and pinpoint the source of distribution.

EverPass also conducts in-person checks, according to a company spokesperson. Restaurateurs, be warned!

“EverPass is deeply committed to protecting the rights of our customers and ensuring the integrity of NFL Sunday Ticket in the commercial marketplace,” the company said in a statement provided to CNBC. “Commercial establishments must have the proper licensing to show NFL Sunday Ticket, and those found in violation may face penalties, up to and including fines and/or legal action. EverPass remains vigilant in tracking and addressing piracy to uphold the value of our offering and protect the interests of our customers and partners.”

The league is on to the problem, too.

“The NFL has a long history of vigorously defending our intellectual property in all corners of our business, including ‘NFL Sunday Ticket,'” a league spokesman said in a statement to CNBC. “Policing media delivered via streaming brings new challenges and requires new solutions to enforce the rules, but we continue to be vigilant in this area and will pursue those who are accessing ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ in unauthorized ways.”

YouTube said it is trying to ensure commercial venues do not show its “Sunday Ticket” offering.

“We understand that piracy is a concern, and are taking measures to ensure that our NFL Sunday Ticket offering is made available only to residential customers. We continue to work on improving these efforts with all of our partners,” a YouTube spokesperson said.

Still, it’s unclear how big of an issue YouTube piracy really is. DirecTV’s customer defections are far higher this year than last year, even though YouTube began selling its residential product in 2023.

Perversely, there’s a silver lining to DirecTV’s declining commercial business. It announced a merger with longtime rival Dish Network last month. The “Sunday Ticket” wars are another example of new competition making the satellite TV business less monopolistic than it once was.

On the record

Val Ackerman, Big East Conference Commissioner.

Courtesy: The Big East Conference

In an homage to both Passover and Craig Kilborn‘s old bit, “Five Questions,” we’re asking the decision-makers in sports and media Four Questions.

This week, our guest is Big East Conference Commissioner and former WNBA President Val Ackerman! There are so many fascinating and unknown aspects to compensation for name, image and likeness — the evolving way athletes are paid in college sports — that it dominated our conversation.

Read the full article here