This year, Thursday Night Football becomes a streaming-only property. And that’s bad news for those who don’t get their content from streaming platforms.
Enter DirecTV. The outgoing Sunday Ticket provider is close to a deal with Amazon to distribute TNF to restaurants and bars, according to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
Ourand reports that nothing has been signed, yet.
Some would say that bars and restaurants should simply upgrade their technical capabilities. That’s easier said than done. It’s expected that DirecTV will secure the ability to beam Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants in 2023, when DirecTV loses the package to a streaming platform, such as Apple.
Potentially lost in the cracks will be rural customers and others who don’t have access to suitable high-speed Internet access. Hopefully, they won’t be forgotten as the NFL fully pivots to streaming.
Meanwhile, plenty of football fans have yet to realize that this year’s Thursday night games won’t be available on a three-letter network. Once they figure that out, there will be plenty of disgruntled viewers.