If you’re a football fan, it doesn’t get much better than the NFL Sunday Ticket. For the uninitiated, the Sunday Ticket is a premium channel that broadcasts nearly every NFL regular season game. On satellite TV, the only place to get it is with DIRECT TV (the NFL has an exclusive with DTV, so you won’t find it on DISH).
Watch every out-of-market game
Each Sunday, the NFL Sunday Ticket brings you EVERY game that’s not in your market (e.g, if you live in Houston, you’ll be able to watch the Texans on your local broadcast channel and all the rest on the Ticket). Every game is delivered in crystal clear HD so you won’t miss a single hit or close play.
Red Zone Channel
At first, this channel had all the feel of a superfluous add-on. But when we took it for a spin, it grew on us…fast. Launched a couple years back, the Red Zone Channel shows you every scoring play, usually the moment it happens. If you’re in a fantasy league or just like to whip around the league, this is a cool way to spend your Sunday afternoon.
Catch Eight Games at Once
Sort of an extension of the RZ Channel, if YOU want to take control of the games you’re juggling, DIRECT TV now allows you to watch 8 different games stacked and side-by-side. They call it the “Game Mix” and it’s a great option for bars or other venues that want to show a variety of games but have limited screens (you also don’t need the volume). If it’s just you and you’re a manic game surfer, the Game Mix will save you a few seconds as you hunt down the best action.
Other Perks
When you order the NFL Sunday Ticket, you’ll also get a few additional perks. One of the most popular is the Player Tracker. Again, perfect for fantasy football junkies or point spread degenerates :), you can keep tabs on up to 18 different players in a pretty cool stats window that overlays the game. It’s completely real-time and very handy if you’re in a heated head-to-head match-up for first place.
For the more traditional fans, there’s also “Short Cuts”. It’s a condensed version of each game (usually 30 min) minus timeouts, lag between snaps, commercials, etc. It’s a nice option to have if you forget to DVR a game and don’t have a ton of time on your hands.
How to Order
All told, the NFL Sunday Ticket brings a lot to the table…for the average fan and football junkie. It’s certainly not cheap (as a stand-alone, it usually costs just north of $330.00), but in 2011 DIRECT TV shook things up by offering it free to new customers. It proved to be a big success so expect much of the same in 2012. To check out the latest deal that includes the NFL Sunday Ticket, visit our DIRECT TV specials page.
