There are just two weeks to go until the start of the National Football League season, and the year has much intrigue and speculation surrounding returning contenders and emerging championship threats. Superstar veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in particular are an enthralling product to watch and have duly been featured on HBO Sports and NFL Films’ Hard Knocks over the course of training camp and the preseason.
“Gang Green” seeks to snap a 12-year playoff drought and return to the Super Bowl for a chance to achieve the sport’s ultimate glory. Moreover, Daniel Jones and the New York Giants aim to build off the success of last season by returning to the playoffs and working to garner a deeper run. Both teams have loads of potential and have captivated both the New York metropolitan area and NFL world at large.
Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata, the new WFAN midday duo, will be watching the teams throughout the regular season since they have to cover them on the show. Both have external NFL interests though, frequently betting on matchups and following out-of-market teams or players. As a result, they would both subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which was a DIRECTV service since its launch in 1994. Google and the National Football League inked a seven-year deal worth $2 billion annually, moving NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube for the first time in its 29-year history, and it is changing the way football fans are going to tackle watching their favorite teams from afar.
“Do I have to get it through YouTube now?,” Tierney asked Licata on WFAN. “Do I absolutely have to? Yeah, I’m not doing that…. I don’t have time for that.”
Tierney seemed confused that NFL Sunday Ticket differed from the typical YouTube platform, a fact of the matter that Licata clarified for him.
“You don’t have to pay for the YouTube service,” Licata said. “You have to pay for this particular service, so you could go through YouTube, pay for Sunday Ticket and then have access to that via the sign-in and whatever and then pull it up. For me, that’s how I used to watch these games. I’d stream Sunday Ticket – I’d have a big screen with four of the games – out-of-town games on it.”
Tierney was somewhat incredulous towards that methodology of watching the game, claiming that he would have trouble tuning into a contest if it was not his singular focus. Nonetheless, he is excited for another season of Jets football, specifically because there is intrigue surrounding the team that had not been present in years past.
“I was just watching it because I’m a Jets fan,” Tierney said of the team over the last few years. “So it’s recording and I’m really kind of spending more time on the RedZone…. The ability to manipulate the DVR made it more palatable going back and forth to the RedZone.”
