NFL fans just scored another way to stream their favorite NFL games outside of their living rooms.
EverPass Media announced this week that it acquired UPshow, a streaming platform that allows public establishments, including bars and restaurant chains, to show “Sunday Ticket” NFL games, previously only available through a DirecTV satellite subscription.
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“More content is moving to streaming. Regardless of the economics of streaming, it's become very clear that live sports is an important part of that,” EverPass CEO Alex Kaplan told CNBC. “We're going to think about how to deliver a product and service to our customers that is becoming more and more challenging for them to aggregate in a meaningful way.”
YouTubeTV bought the residential rights to Sunday Ticket for $2 billion a year in a seven-year deal that ends in 2022. Before that, DirecTV had been the exclusive owner and distributor of the package since 1994.
The move comes as more streaming platforms look to get into the live sports business, particularly the NFL.
In March 2021, Amazon Prime Video was acquired exclusive broadcast nights for the league's “Thursday Night Football” for $1 billion annually beginning in the 2023-2024 NFL season through 2033.
This marked the first time a streaming platform had purchased exclusive rights to an NFL package.
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In May, Netflix announced that would have first-time broadcast rights to the 2024 NFL Christmas Day games — Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.
Financial details of the EverPass and UPShow deal were not disclosed.
Last week, a jury found the NFL guilty of violating antitrust laws over the Sunday Ticket program.
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