Earlier this week, YouTube TV unveiled pricing for NFL Sunday Ticket, with some noting that the service is at a high price point than previously expected. One of the potential drawbacks of the service being housed on a streaming platform is the latency involved with the broadcast. YouTube TV believes it will build an experience that limits those issues.
Pro Football Talk reached out to YouTube TV to question how the streaming platform will handle latency issues for subscribers of the league’s premium product.
“The YouTube TV team is working on building a high-quality Sunday Ticket experience,” a spokesperson said. “Overall, YouTube TV is built on the infrastructure that powers YouTube and reliably serves billions of playback every day. Users can check their Live Latency in ‘Stats For Nerds’ directly in the YouTube TV app. We’re always working to find the right tradeoff between latency, buffering, and quality.”
During the broadcast for Super Bowl LVII, YouTube TV was a reported 54-seconds behind the game action on the field. While that number was several seconds faster than other streaming platforms, it was still more than 30-seconds behind the linear television feed on FOX Sports.
Latency issues could result in a potential number of issues. Gambling partners of the league will want the lowest latency possible due to the effect it could have on micro-bets. Viewers who utilize a second screen to discuss games on Twitter or other social media platforms risk having plays and game results spoiled by latency concerns.
