YouTube launches new features like Live Chats and Sunday Ticket

YouTube launches new features like Live Chats and Sunday Ticket

San Francisco, 8/17/2023

YouTube announced new features like live chat and monthly payments for NFL Sunday Ticket as it prepares for its first year as the football bundle streaming hub. Google’s YouTube previously secured the hosting rights for Sunday Ticket, beating out competitors like Apple, Amazon and Disney.

Google is estimated to pay about $2 billion per season over the course of the seven-year deal, breaking the exclusive control DirecTV has had over the NFL Sunday Ticket since 1994.

The service on YouTube and YouTube TV offers live coverage of all regular-season Sunday NFL games from Fox and CBS. This year’s rotation begins September 10th.

To encourage more sign-ups, YouTube is now offering a monthly payment option of $99.75 over four months ($399 total), expanding on the single payment plan.

Additionally, live chat and polls will be added on mobile and TV to allow viewers to interact during matches.

A „Key Plays“ highlights game excerpts on YouTube. Real-time NFL game highlights on YouTube Shorts will include a „Live“ ad to alert subscribers to the game being broadcast live.

Subscribers can also use Multiview to watch multiple channels at the same time.