YouTube TV offers last week of Sunday Ticket for $4.99

The exorbitant price of Sunday Ticket has always been a sore spot for hardcore NFL fans who want to follow all the games or their favorite team out of the market.

Sunday ticket prices were even the subject of a lawsuit in 2024. And while it initially looked like a jury’s verdict would hamper the industry, when they revealed the league found an antitrust violation to keep the price high and refuse to offer opportunities for single team. , among other restrictions on when the service was with DirecTV. However, the judge in the case overturned the verdict after finding that the jury used incorrect testimony to arrive at their dollar amount for damages that could have cost the NFL billions.

For the 2024 season, YouTube TV charged fans $479 for Sunday Ticket ($519 with RedZone Channel) for non-subscribers. If you were a YouTube TV subscriber, you received a $100 discount on the $379 premium content ($423 total with RedZone). Of course, this discount was undone when YouTube TV announced a massive price increase of $10 per month for 2025 all the way up to $82.99 per month.

But heading into Week 18, the powers that be at Google and the NFL have heard your concerns about affordability and accessibility and offered the final week of Sunday Ticket for the low, low, low price of $4.99.

A good move for new fans and a bit of an olive branch considering how much furore there has been over high prices, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

Let’s start with the Week 18 schedule for Sunday Ticket. As the NFL puts more exclusive games on networks and streaming platforms, the value of the Sunday Ticket plummets. And that’s especially the case with so little at stake in the playoffs this year in the final week, as the best games have all been moved to national windows.

ESPN and ABC get two AFC North games with playoff implications on Saturday as part of extended flex scheduling in Browns-Ravens and Bengals-Steelers. These games will determine the AFC North champion and whether the Bengals still have a shot at the final Wild Card slot.

Week 18’s biggest game, the matchup between the Vikings and Lions for the NFC North crown and the #1 seed, will air nationally on NBC in primetime for Sunday night football.

There are only two other playoff spots up for grabs. First up is the NFC South champion, which is decided across divisional matchups between the Falcons and Panthers and the Saints and Buccaneers, respectively. The Bucs have the division lead, but the fact that Fox is sending their top crew of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady to see if Spencer Rattler and the 5-11 Saints can play spoiler is a sign of how weak Sunday’s roster is. is.

In the AFC, the Broncos have a win-and-get-in game against the 15-1 Chiefs … who have already committed to starting Carson Wentz and resting Patrick Mahomes. Feel the excitement!

It feels like the equivalent of offering the player’s jersey that was just bought on the 75% off rack at the local sports store.

The downside of the massive discount is that it makes annual subscribers question how and why they shell out so much money for the service if it can be given away so cheaply. If you were able to pay $4.99 a week for the entire season, the Sunday Ticket season pass would cost just under $90 … not nearly $500.

Is the message to fans that they’re receiving an incredibly fan-friendly discount for Week 18’s uninspiring lineup of Sunday Ticket games… or that they’re being ripped off for the other 17 weeks of the season? Neither message is particularly comforting for NFL fans when you really think about it.

(YouTube)