NFL Sunday Ticket Arrives on the PS3

[hippie_hunter]

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.

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 can access the service on their PS3 for an additional $50 and use the PS3 as an additional receiver for your home.
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.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The service will be a console-exclusive on the PS3, at least for this season. "We don't have any plans this season to bring [NFL Sunday Ticket] to another game console," DirecTV's Robert Mercer told Shacknews. "We just want to work with a single partner this time around to give everyone a great experience."

 

[TheBat812]

Ha, I was about to post this. It's so damn expensive. I'd rather get GameRewind for 40-50 bucks.

 

[marvelman2006]

Ill pass on principle alone. My borther already has the ticket so ill just hike to his house on sundays. I would have considered it if it wasnt for the very high price tag. What idiot thought $339 for an app would be a good idea? It cost more then the damn PS3 itself.

 

[KALEL114]

NFL Ticket has always been overpriced. Redzone for the win.

 

[marvelman2006]

NFL Ticket has always been overpriced. Redzone for the win.

I pay $25 one time for the redzone channel through verizon fios and thats it, I play fantasy football and to be honest I only care when someone scores. I dont care about unsuccessful 3rd down conversions and punts.

 

[KALEL114]

Yep. Redzone is awesome. I have a lot of friends that ditched NFL Ticket when it came to Direct TV. I have Uverse and I pay about $15 for it.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Ill pass on principle alone. My borther already has the ticket so ill just hike to his house on sundays. I would have considered it if it wasnt for the very high price tag. What idiot thought $339 for an app would be a good idea? It cost more then the damn PS3 itself.

I think the App itself will be free, just like MLB.tv and NHL GameCenter. It's the subscription to watch the games that cost $339, which is pretty much close what DirectTV users pay anyways to have it.

 

[Mister J]

I like the offering and am glad to see it available on console, but I'm not touching it at that price. I had Sunday Ticket once and found it to be horribly overpriced, even for as big as a football fan as I am. If I'm intent on seeing an out of game, I just head to a sports bar.

 

[Kryptonian Warrior]

I'm just pissed off that DirecTV is offering Sunday Ticket to new subscribers FOR FREE!!! They need to take care of their current subscribers as well. I understand that it can't be free for everyone, but it just sucks!

 

[marvelman2006]

I think the App itself will be free, just like MLB.tv and NHL GameCenter. It's the subscription to watch the games that cost $339, which is pretty much close what DirectTV users pay anyways to have it.

I meant to say that sorry, but the price tag at $339 is the same cost to buy 2 ravens tickets here in baltimore from stubhub. I love football as much as the next guy but that is a steep price to ask from fans when the economy is so low. I havent had directv since 2006 because I thought they were incredibly high for just cable but do people really pay that amount every year? My ideal price tag would be around $150 for the service and even then I would consider it because there is no way your going to watch every game.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Considering you can get the NFL ticket for free, that price is WAAAAAYYYYYY too high. They should of cut it in half.

 

[KALEL114]

What do you expect? It's the NFL. They are a tad bit on the greedy side. Lol.

 

[jacobed]

I went over to a friend's house who had this on his ps3 figuring in the long run it might be an alright deal. He really didn't care, he definitely has the money for it. Anyways, went over there excited to see the many different games throughout the day and what did we see. Error screens, ads constantly looping. No football all day. Sony your online sucks, it will always suck. He said they're offering him like a 20 dollar voucher now but I know he is really pissed about the situation and Sony is blaming DirecTV and DirecTV is blaming Sony. No answers and no football.

 

[KALEL114]

It was a Direct TV problem not a Sony internet issue.

It was just last month that we learned that Sunday NFL Ticket would be made available to non-DirecTV customers through the PlayStation Network. Aside from shocking those who were unaware of how much it costs (the $340 works out to $20 per week), it was exciting news for those who are otherwise unable to watch their favorite team's games from home.
So you can only imagine the frustration users experienced when they were unable to watch the early slate of games, which included quite a few excellent match-ups. Some people were unable to log in while others were subjected to the same looping video over and over. (IGN's Greg Miller was among those who were unable to watch, as he demonstrates in the video above.) And it wasn't just PS3 users who were having trouble -- NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go (which allows you to watch on certain mobile devices, computers, and tablets) was also experiencing technical difficulties.

It didn't help that DirecTV's support account on Twitter was of little help -- as Giant Bomb points out, it instructed a former staff member to contact Sony if he purchased the service through PSN and isn't a DirecTV subscribers. That's not the sort of answer most people are looking for.
A number of interactive features (Player Tracker, ScoreGuide, and Game Mix) were disabled later on in the day, and the issues were reportedly resolved -- at least enough so that the late afternoon games were watchable on PS3.

Sony meanwhile has indicated it will offer a $24.99 PSN voucher to Sunday Ticket subscribers this week to apologize. (If that includes you, keep an eye on your PSN messages.) That covers more than what it cost to have service yesterday, though it also requires you to give that money right back to Sony through the PlayStation Store, which may or may not be what some users are interested in doing.

http://www.1up.com/news/nfl-sunday-ticket-rough-opening-day-25-psn-voucher

 

[hippie_hunter]

I meant to say that sorry, but the price tag at $339 is the same cost to buy 2 ravens tickets here in baltimore from stubhub. I love football as much as the next guy but that is a steep price to ask from fans when the economy is so low. I havent had directv since 2006 because I thought they were incredibly high for just cable but do people really pay that amount every year? My ideal price tag would be around $150 for the service and even then I would consider it because there is no way your going to watch every game.

You're absolutely right that it's over priced. But that's because DirectTV having control over NFL Sunday Ticket (which allows them to set the price as opposed to being more competitive with other sports channels) and because the NFL is so big that they ask more from their affiliates that show their programming (ESPN for example just paid $15 billion of Monday Night Football until 2021 and DirectTV pays $700 million a year until the 2014-2015 season for exclusivity of NFL Sunday Ticket) and as a result pass such costs onto the consumer.

 

[marvelman2006]

You're absolutely right that it's over priced. But that's because DirectTV having control over NFL Sunday Ticket (which allows them to set the price as opposed to being more competitive with other sports channels) and because the NFL is so big that they ask more from their affiliates that show their programming (ESPN for example just paid $15 billion of Monday Night Football until 2021 and DirectTV pays $700 million a year until the 2014-2015 season for exclusivity of NFL Sunday Ticket) and as a result pass such costs onto the consumer.

I know bars pay out the butt for the ticket just because they have to factor in so many customers coming into to drink and eat while they watch the game. If you ask me ESPN over paid for MNF especially when in my eyes sunday night football has a much better production and overall look. I really wish they would open the ticket up to fios and comcast that way you have 3 companies offering better deals then the other guy. I just paid $50 for a one time charge from fios just to get the redzone and like some others have said the 4 o clock games they stay with longer. I really just care about the scoring for fantasy purposes.