Prior to this year, the only way a bar or restaurant could show the NFL ‘Sunday Ticket’ was to have a subscription to DirecTV. However, according to a report from Lillian Rizzo of CNBC, a new acquisition by EverPass Media, the joint venture between the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners which owns the commercial rights to the property, will change that moving forward.
Rizzo reports EverPass Media has purchased UPshow, which has the technology to allow commercial businesses such as bars, restaurants, casinos and more to stream ‘Sunday Ticket.’ The report says DirecTV will remain as a distributor to commercial accounts but that the agreement they have with EverPass is nonexclusive.
DirecTV had been the exclusive distributor of the content for both residential and commercial from 1994 until the end of the 2022 season. YouTubeTV, owned by Google, then signed a 7-year deal at around $2 billion per year for the residential rights beginning last football season.
In addition to the report of the new technology, Rizzo also reports TKO, the company behind both WWE and UFC, is now an investor in EverPass Media, which is looking to expand and become a distribution partner for other content outside of the NFL.
