Ahead of the kickoff of the NFL season, YouTube announced some updates about its NFL Sunday Ticket service including monthly payment options for subscribers in 43 states.

The Google-owned YouTube TV live streaming service won the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket in December, outbidding Amazon and ESPN. Historically carried by satellite service DirecTV since it launched in 1994, the programming package brings out-of-market regular season NFL games to viewers.

Most customers will see an option for a monthly payment plan when they sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket, according to a Wednesday blog post written by Courtney Lessard, group product manager for NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube Primetime Channels.

"We will be rolling this out over the next week on both YouTube and YouTube TV, so hang tight if you don’t see it yet," Lessard said in the blog post. 

Here's everything you need to know about the service:

How much does the NFL Sunday Ticket cost?

The package starts at $299 ($50 off the regular season price) for subscribers of YouTube TV, which includes live TV from more than 100 channels for $72.99, plus unlimited DVR space and up to three simultaneous streams. You can add the NFL RedZone channel for $40.

Those who don't subscribe to YouTube TV can get NFL Sunday Ticket for $399 ($439 with NFL RedZone) through YouTube's Primetime Channels.

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Payment plans

Subscribers can choose from four monthly payment plans. Here's how it breaks down (remember current pricing is $50 off the regular season price):

• NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV ($299): Four payments of $74.75.
• NFL Sunday Ticket + NFL RedZone on YouTube TV ($339): Four payments of $84.75.
• NFL Sunday Ticket on Primetime Channels ($399): Four payments of $99.75.
• NFL Sunday Ticket + NFL RedZone on Primetime Channels ($439): Four payments of $109.75.

"That means you could order the base Sunday Ticket plan through YouTube TV for $299, but only pay $74.75 today. Then, over the next three months, you would pay $74.75 three more times," wrote Phil Swann on TVAnswerman.com. Non-YouTube TV subscribers would likely pay about $100 each month.

On the TV tech news site TVAnswerman.com, Phil Swann notes that there are no refunds. But the monthly payment option, which DirecTV offered when it had the service, "was a nice feature for fans who live paycheck to paycheck."

"With the Ticket’s price starting at around $300 for the entire season, some fans simply couldn’t afford to pay so much upfront," he wrote.

Exceptions

YouTube cannot offer a monthly payment option in seven states – Georgia, New York, Minnesota, Nevada, Missouri, Tennessee and New Jersey – "to ensure our compliance with local requirements," according to the YouTube TV support website.

Students will have discounted subscription option within the next week, Lessard said in the post.

More features

Among the new features announced as part of YouTube's NFL Sunday Ticket are:

• Multiview option: Viewers can watch two, three or four NFL games – or NFL RedZone – at the same time on Sunday.
• Live chat and polls: You can interact using smartphones and other devices while watching Sunday Ticket games. YouTube plans to include NFL Shop integrations, too.
• Key Plays: Viewers can see videos of major plays and game clips before joining live games through YouTube's Key Plays feature, which won the company a technical Emmy earlier this year.
• NFL Shorts: You can get real-time highlights for games on your mobile device and seamlessly jump to live games.

How many devices can I watch NFL Sunday Ticket on?

NFL Sunday Ticket can be watched on an unlimited, simultaneous number of streams at home.  Outside the home, you can only watch on a maximum of two separate streams. 

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider &mikegsnider.

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