NFL Sunday Ticket / NFL Network - Article

[Ksyrup]

All of those HDTV channels (and a few more) are extra on DTV, too - other than HDNet.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Yeah those are "premium" channels because they charge us more or something like that. But you'll be getting Mav and Smithsonian soon!...

Oh yay. More likely I'll just be saving $6.95/month...

[DataKing]

The deal also provides Comcast with video-on-demand rights and the ability to show DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel, a part of the Sunday Ticket satellite package that gives live look-ins to the league’s Sunday afternoon games when teams are inside their opponents’ 20-yard line.

Oh heck yeah! *Runs off to make sure this will be included in his Premium sports package.*

[RainMaker]

Interesting. I am with RCN because Comcast didn't carry Big Ten Network or NFL Network. Now I believe they have both.

[gstelmack]

While we were comparing TWC customer service to others, fun story for me yesterday:

We're watching more HD-OnDemand movies than we are movie channel movies, so I called TWC yesterday to drop our premium channels and add Disney OnDemand for the kids. Get the voice recognition software, tell it I want to "Downgrade Service", it says it will connect me to a rep who can help, and then disconnected me. Twice.

Sure, probably a weird glitch, but it doesn't leave a good perception when someone calls to drop some things and you won't take their call at all.

Had to use the online chat to do it which was quick and painless.

[Daimyo]

The three times I've tried to cancel cable service it didn't work via phone... always got "mysteriously" disconnected after an hour or so on hold. Each time I ended up going to the local office in person since they're pretty close by.

[Kodos]

Just got an email saying Sunday Ticket is now available on PSN. DirecTV can't like that. $339.95 is a bit steep though. That's why I stopped getting it on DirecTV. And am considering dropping DirecTV entirely. Quick web search turned up this:

DIRECTV and PlayStation Bring NFL Sunday Ticket to PS3

+ Posted by Philip Rosenberg // Senior Vice President, Business Development, SCEA

Hello PlayStation Nation!

Are you ready for some football!

We are excited to announce that PlayStation has partnered with DIRECTV to bring its popular sports subscription service, NFL SUNDAY TICKET, to the PlayStation 3 game console. PlayStation owners across the country will now have the opportunity to watch every out-of-market Sunday game on their PS3.

DIRECTV and PlayStation announce NFL SUNDAY TICKET on PS3

How do you get in the game? At the start of the season, viewers who do not currently have access to DIRECTV will be able to subscribe to NFL SUNDAY TICKET at the season price of $339.95. Existing DIRECTV customers who already have NFL SUNDAY TICKET and NFL SUNDAY TICKET To-Go through DIRECTV can access the service on their PS3 for no additional charge.

NFL SUNDAY TICKET is a DIRECTV-exclusive sports package that offers:

* Up to 14 NFL games every Sunday
* Full HD for every football game
* DIRECTV’s Red Zone Channel

We know that PlayStation fans are huge sports enthusiasts, so adding NFL SUNDAY TICKET is the perfect complement to the PS3’s rapidly growing lineup of sports entertainment, including MLB.TV and NHL GameCenter. We’ll have more info, including a video tutorial and sign up information on the blog shortly. I hope you’re as excited for the football season as we are.

[wade moore]

Interesting.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Just got an email saying Sunday Ticket is now available on PSN. DirecTV can't like that. $339.95 is a bit steep though. That's why I stopped getting it on DirecTV. And am considering dropping DirecTV entirely. Quick web search turned up this:

DIRECTV and PlayStation Bring NFL Sunday Ticket to PS3

+ Posted by Philip Rosenberg // Senior Vice President, Business Development, SCEA

Hello PlayStation Nation!

Are you ready for some football!

We are excited to announce that PlayStation has partnered with DIRECTV to bring its popular sports subscription service, NFL SUNDAY TICKET, to the PlayStation 3 game console. PlayStation owners across the country will now have the opportunity to watch every out-of-market Sunday game on their PS3.

DIRECTV and PlayStation announce NFL SUNDAY TICKET on PS3

How do you get in the game? At the start of the season, viewers who do not currently have access to DIRECTV will be able to subscribe to NFL SUNDAY TICKET at the season price of $339.95. Existing DIRECTV customers who already have NFL SUNDAY TICKET and NFL SUNDAY TICKET To-Go through DIRECTV can access the service on their PS3 for no additional charge.

NFL SUNDAY TICKET is a DIRECTV-exclusive sports package that offers:

* Up to 14 NFL games every Sunday
* Full HD for every football game
* DIRECTV’s Red Zone Channel

We know that PlayStation fans are huge sports enthusiasts, so adding NFL SUNDAY TICKET is the perfect complement to the PS3’s rapidly growing lineup of sports entertainment, including MLB.TV and NHL GameCenter. We’ll have more info, including a video tutorial and sign up information on the blog shortly. I hope you’re as excited for the football season as we are.

The question to me is what is meant by "access" to Directv? Does it mean I choose not to get it or I can't get it?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I may or may not have jumped on the PS3 offer to avoid business rates through my dish at my place of business..........

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by panerd

The question to me is what is meant by "access" to Directv? Does it mean I choose not to get it or I can't get it?

Excellent point.

Yeah, it looks to me like you can only get it through PSN if you a) have DirecTV already or b) can't get DirecTV at all. So all this does is expand the number of people DirecTV can collect $6000 or whatever the hell NFL Sunday Ticket costs from.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The price for the Sunday Ticket is amazingly high. I did it for one year and, if I didn't live in Detroit, I would likely consider it again, but it's a lot of money and hard to take full advantage of.

I get the Red Zone Channel for $32 an NFL season and I've found that to be a much better way to follow NFL action overall (not just one team).

[Blackadar]

Since my DISH contract is up, I decided to call DirectTV and see what they have to offer. As a AAA member, I can get a special rate. With DirectTV giving away the NFL package this year for new subscribers, I thought I'd check out their rates.

Seems that they must be taking lessons from the airlines, because the prices were whacked when they added everything up. That Choice Plus package that DirectTV says is $24.99 for AAA members? It's really $36.99 during the first year and goes up to $62.99 the next year. They couldn't even explain the extra fees. They started talking about a DVR charge, but that's supposed to be a "free" upgrade. This is all for only 1 TV!!!

Hell, my current DISH package only runs $40 and I can threaten them with leaving so they give me a premium channel subscription every time I call, so I guess there's no NFL package in my future anytime soon.

Why is DirectTV so damned expensive as compared to DISH? I can't figure that out...

[Schmidty]

I don't get Directv anymore because of trees where I live now, so I watched Lions games on channelsurfing.net, but since they're gone now (even channelsurfing.ws now), I'm going to use the game replay thing on NFL.com. It's 39.99 for the season, but I'm going to have to avoid scores and have my wife click on the game for me so it isn't spoiled. Other than that, it's HD and has DVR controls and no commercials. I'll be happy with that.

[RainMaker]

RedZone is an absolute bargain. I'd pay 3 times as much as I do for it. It's a must have if you are in fantasy leagues. I'd even imagine it would work if you had a team out of market. You probably get to see 20% of the game and all the big moments.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I don't get Directv anymore because of trees where I live now, so I watched Lions games on channelsurfing.net, but since they're gone now (even channelsurfing.ws now), I'm going to use the game replay thing on NFL.com. It's 39.99 for the season, but I'm going to have to avoid scores and have my wife click on the game for me so it isn't spoiled. Other than that, it's HD and has DVR controls and no commercials. I'll be happy with that.

That isn't a terrible idea. When do they put the games up for viewing?

[molson]

Originally Posted by LastWhiteSoxFanStanding

That isn't a terrible idea. When do they put the games up for viewing?

"By 6AM the day after the game". I think I could manage that, at least for the handful of Patriots games that aren't on in Idaho (which thankfully, isn't that many, at least while they're good.)

I did the NFL Ticket thing last year, the first year I had DirecTV, really for the novelty, but all I did was DVR redzone and watch it leisurely over a Sunday, and watch the rare Pats game that wasn't on TV. It wasn't worth the money (though the red zone channel was awesome) The game rewind is intriguing though.

[Antmeister]

Originally Posted by LastWhiteSoxFanStanding

That isn't a terrible idea. When do they put the games up for viewing?

Originally Posted by molson

"By 6AM the day after the game". I think I could manage that, at least for the handful of Patriots games that aren't on in Idaho (which thankfully, isn't that many, at least while they're good.)

I did the NFL Ticket thing last year, the first year I had DirecTV, really for the novelty, but all I did was DVR redzone and watch it leisurely over a Sunday, and watch the rare Pats game that wasn't on TV. It wasn't worth the money (though the red zone channel was awesome) The game rewind is intriguing though.

From the support page of NFL Game Rewind it reads:

When will games be posted to NFL Game Rewind?

A: All games played on Sunday will be posted in the NFL Game Rewind archive following the conclusion of Sunday Night Football. Monday Night Football games will be posted 24 hours after the conclusion of that game. Thursday Night Football games will be available immediately after the game.

So for Monday Night Games, it is actually worse, but Sunday Night games are works out much better, especially if you want to hear the sports talk the next day.

Now if you live on the West Coast and the games you want to watch are on Sunday, this is a good thing since you can still get in a game or two before Monday. The rest may be able to get in one game if we stay up a bit longer than usual.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I get the Red Zone Channel for $32 an NFL season and I've found that to be a much better way to follow NFL action overall (not just one team).

What is Red Zone Channel? Is this the NFL Network RZ Channel, which I thought wasn't available to DTV subscribers? The rare instances I'm home on Sundays anymore, I will usually follow NFL Network because they flip around to games and have all the scores, but as far as a RZ channel, I didn't tihnk DTV subscribers had access to one unless you bought the full Sunday Ticket package and got DTV's RZ channel.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

but as far as a RZ channel, I didn't tihnk DTV subscribers had access to one unless you bought the full Sunday Ticket package and got DTV's RZ channel.

I believe this is true yeah. I still pay for Sunday Ticket and am still happy with it (a dinosaur perhaps!). I love the red zone channel but spend enough time watching the best games at 1pm and 4pm that I don't feel like I'm paying $350 just for for red zone. If I only wanted the red zone channel it would probably be enough for me to justify switching providers.

[Ksyrup]

That's what I don't understand - HB said he got Sunday Ticket one year, which suggests he has DTV, but now pays $32 for Red Zone channel. I think I'm missing something.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's what I don't understand - HB said he got Sunday Ticket one year, which suggests he has DTV, but now pays $32 for Red Zone channel. I think I'm missing something.

Think he had Sunday Ticket before he moved back to Michigan. When he got back here he just got cable with (now) the RZ.

[Ksyrup]

Ah. I didn't read that as he had moved, just that it didn't make sense for him to keep ST after trying it for a year with him being in Michigan.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's what I don't understand - HB said he got Sunday Ticket one year, which suggests he has DTV, but now pays $32 for Red Zone channel. I think I'm missing something.

Originally Posted by bronconick

Think he had Sunday Ticket before he moved back to Michigan. When he got back here he just got cable with (now) the RZ.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Ah. I didn't read that as he had moved, just that it didn't make sense for him to keep ST after trying it for a year with him being in Michigan.

This is correct. I had Direct TV when I lived in D.C. Then I moved back to Michigan and got Comcast. Comcast has the Redzone Channel as part of its "sports pacakge" which is $8 per month.

So, I always order to sports package in September and cancel it in January, since I don't watch any of the other channels.

[DanGarion]

Just going to post this here on the thread I had started.

There are sources stating that TWC and NFL Network are about to come to an agreement for NFLN and Redzone.
NFL Reaches Deal With Time Warner for NFL Network and RedZone - Bloomberg

I've heard rumors within that our local headend is scrambling to make space on our system to fire up as soon as Sunday or Thursday (according to my sources someone had to leave a conference call to go on another call specifically about it.) So keep your fingers crossed, I know mine are!

The only official notice we have been given internally is.

There are a number of reports today about Time Warner Cable reaching an agreement with NFL Network. As of this time, negotiations continue; but there is no final agreement yet.

Just for reference if you live in California and have Time Warner Cable.

NFL- Channel 1355 SD channel 355 HD
Red Zone: 1356 SD Channel 356 HD
__________________

[Big Fo]

Good news. Get beIN Sport USA next please.

[panerd]

Anyone renewed yet this season? Looking to see what number some of you are getting them down to before I call to negotiate. It looks like they are trying to go back around $300 again after taking it down a bit last year.

[Lathum]

I'm going to try and work the PAC 12 angle this year.

[Logan]

I don't have DTV but in reading a thread about the Ticket on another board, it seems pretty easy to get it free and have money knocked off your bill for a year as well. Just gotta keep saying no you want more off, need to lower your bill, etc.

Unless all those people are lying, of course.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Logan

I don't have DTV but in reading a thread about the Ticket on another board, it seems pretty easy to get it free and have money knocked off your bill for a year as well. Just gotta keep saying no you want more off, need to lower your bill, etc.

Unless all those people are lying, of course.

Perhaps they are telling the truth. I have never come that close but I think I got it for $99 one year. I have actually been transferred to customer retention and they said they couldn't do anything else and were willing to set up a disconnect service for me. Maybe you can take it a step further and actually call their bluff but I imagine a scenario of me explaining to my wife why her DVR full of Real Housewives and Friends is going to have to be redone with cable service due to an NFL Sunday Ticket negotiation gone bad. Seems more worth just shelling out $100-$200 than dealing with that. Plus its not like I think I deserve to get a product for free I just feel $300 is a bit steep.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Logan

I don't have DTV but in reading a thread about the Ticket on another board, it seems pretty easy to get it free and have money knocked off your bill for a year as well. Just gotta keep saying no you want more off, need to lower your bill, etc.

Unless all those people are lying, of course.

They do give it away free if you are a new customer and sign up for at least the 2nd-lowest plan.

[molson]

From what I've read, your DirecTV account has different tags on it in that make it eligible for certain discounts if you ask for them. It mostly depends on how profitable a customer you are. If you have a lot of premium channels and order PPV movies and events, it's a lot more likely they'll give you free stuff if you ask for it.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by panerd

Perhaps they are telling the truth. I have never come that close but I think I got it for $99 one year. I have actually been transferred to customer retention and they said they couldn't do anything else and were willing to set up a disconnect service for me. Maybe you can take it a step further and actually call their bluff but I imagine a scenario of me explaining to my wife why her DVR full of Real Housewives and Friends is going to have to be redone with cable service due to an NFL Sunday Ticket negotiation gone bad. Seems more worth just shelling out $100-$200 than dealing with that. Plus its not like I think I deserve to get a product for free I just feel $300 is a bit steep.

This is where I am at as well. They called my bluff last year on the PAC 12, but seems at least worth it to try.

[Logan]

Here's the thread I was referring to, linked to a point where people were discussing deals received for this season. Might want to read those couple pages.

Seems like either being near your contract expiration, or your willingness to extend your contract, could end up saving you a lot if you haggle.

Directv NFL Ticket.... - Page 16 - The Shark Pool (NFL Talk) - Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

[Radii]

Originally Posted by panerd

Anyone renewed yet this season? Looking to see what number some of you are getting them down to before I call to negotiate. It looks like they are trying to go back around $300 again after taking it down a bit last year.

They offered it to me for a little less than half off ($160-$170 I think?).

I cancelled it anyway, all I watch it red zone, and only when Carolina is not playing. Since Carolina plays most of their games at 1pm, that means I'm frequently only using red zone to watch the 4pm games, which only has value a few weeks out of the year.

Side rant: fuck the NFL for their scheduling with the 4pm games. There are never more than 4 games at 4pm. In week 1 there's only 2 of them, and in a number of other weeks there's only 3.

[rafini]

Called a few weeks ago to cancel it, turned down their first two offers for a reduced price and finally agreed to keep it for $45 (5 x $9) and am also getting 6 months of Showtime and 3 months of Starz for free. I'm a year into my two-year contract for the mid-tier package with two boxes, and order a handful of UFC PPVs a year, whatever difference that makes.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by panerd

Anyone renewed yet this season? Looking to see what number some of you are getting them down to before I call to negotiate. It looks like they are trying to go back around $300 again after taking it down a bit last year.

Since leaving TWC I subscribed to DirecTV and get the NFL package free for the year. So I'll be very interested in how cheap I can get it next year...

[Lathum]

Totally stoked. I have never had this happen but I just got Sunday Ticket for free. All I had to do was renew my service for a year, no problem.

The first person I talked to told me they couldn't help, so I got the cancellation department. I basically told them $300 was to much, and I can get the Amazon deal for $100 and stream the games, cancel my service, get TWC who I already have internet with, and also get the PAC 12 Network. I hammered home the PAC 12 network, I think they are getting a lot of calls about it.

I have no issues renewing since I have no intention to switch providers.

I also got $20/ month off my bill.

Pretty excited.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Totally stoked. I have never had this happen but I just got Sunday Ticket for free. All I had to do was renew my service for a year, no problem.

The first person I talked to told me they couldn't help, so I got the cancellation department. I basically told them $300 was to much, and I can get the Amazon deal for $100 and stream the games, cancel my service, get TWC who I already have internet with, and also get the PAC 12 Network. I hammered home the PAC 12 network, I think they are getting a lot of calls about it.

I have no issues renewing since I have no intention to switch providers.

I also got $20/ month off my bill.

Pretty excited.

Yeah PAC-12 is a good angle. Who does have it right now, DISH network? I think I will call and say I like having the ticket for Bengals games but would be satisfied moving to DISH for Red Zone and the PAC-12 network if they can't do anything about the price. Even though I could care less about the network it seems like the best angle. (I think last year I complained about my kids watching Viacom cartoons even though we only had a 1 month old )

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by panerd

Yeah PAC-12 is a good angle. Who does have it right now, DISH network? I think I will call and say I like having the ticket for Bengals games but would be satisfied moving to DISH for Red Zone and the PAC-12 network if they can't do anything about the price. Even though I could care less about the network it seems like the best angle. (I think last year I complained about my kids watching Viacom cartoons even though we only had a 1 month old )

Most cable providers have it. Direct TV is pretty much the lone hold out. It really does piss me off, but I'm not changing for the 5 Husky football games a year. I had no trouble finding them online last year.

[panerd]

Well I ended up using the PAC-12 angle and they offered $99.99 with the max/red zone thing. Probably could have gone a step further and threatened cancellation but like I mentioned previously I don't mind paying something for the service just not the $299 they advertise it for. I figure 16 Bengals games end up being like $6-7 a game. Don't understand why the starting price point is so high but maybe they get a lot of people at that price. Seems like $150 would make them a lot more money but I guess someone on their end has run the numbers as well and probably knows more than me.