AfterDawn: News

DirecTV and NFL join to offer streaming games

DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket service will be making the leap to computer screens across the country this fall.

NFL Sunday Ticket already allows viewers to watch NFL football games that wouldn't normally be available on their local TV stations. The company has now announced that anyone signing up for their SuperFan package will also be able to stream live games directly to their computer. This is expected to be a first step towards the NFL extending their broadcast reach to realms beyond the television screen.



The platform requirements and the $368 price tag provide a steep barrier to entry for the NFL's streaming package, but that may be exactly what the NFL wants. The NFL has taken a very protective approach to online video, more so than just about any other sports league. That's why you'll be hard pressed to find any recent game footage online anywhere other than NFL.com.

So why would they want to price the product out of the reach of many consumers? It may come down to a couple of factors. First, by keeping the price high, participation will be low enough to help avoid potential broadcast issues. It's also possible they simply don't want to make the program mainstream until everyone is agreed on how the details for the service will work out. That may not happen until after a season or more of experimentation.

Source: Ars Technica

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 26 Aug 2007 19:08

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• 9 comments

• albino92

  I have sunday ticket but not superfan, looks like i'll have to pay another 100. Crap!

  26.8.2007 23:17 #1

• c1c

  Of course you will have to pay 'another something' That is the point. So that all nice HDTV's can play crappy streaming video through their computer. what use is this good for? I would rather buy a portable 8" TV and watch it through there. I mean if you are behind a computer, isnt there a TV close by?

  27.8.2007 15:30 #2

• Mr-Movies

  The bonus most probably would be you can stream to your cell phone, now why you would need to do that I don't know. I suppose you could watch replays when you’re at the game but at $100 bucks more and my guess is you have to have Ticket to get this bonus package it is a little spendy. MLB is $30 and you don't have to have any other subscriptions. NFL is a waste all the way around from corrupt officiating, high ticket pricing, black out rules, punks for players that can be loosing a game big time but celebrate because one play goes their way. Parking for MLB in my home town averages $5 in that same lot for NFL it runs $25 what a rip off.

  28.8.2007 08:36 #3

• dannymono

  Does anyone know how to capture the live feed for later burning
  to dvd?

  28.8.2007 10:49 #4

• Mr-Movies

  There are many tools to do that but one that is on this site should work for you, "RipCast". You have to pay for full functionallity though.
  
  http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_...ols/ripcast.cfm
  
  Here is another one you might be interested in AbyssMedia's i-Sound WMA MP3 Recorder Professional.
  
  http://www.abyssmedia.com/mp3recorder/in...CFREDWAodAU58ZQ
  
  There are many more if you do a search you'll see and some are free but most you need to pay for.
  
  Ooops! You need AV streaming stuff above is for just Audio try this one but none of the AV stuff is cheap.
  
  Applian's Audio Video Streaming Capture Suite:
  http://www.applian.com/avscs/index.php?A...48936&SID=avscs

  29.8.2007 08:27 #5

• borhan9

  No effect on me. I just watch the NFL once a year and thats the superbowl.

  2.9.2007 13:43 #6

• albino92

  Originally posted by dannymono: Does anyone know how to capture the live feed for later burning
  to dvd?You don't really need to burn the games to dvds because if you have supercast, which you'll need to stream the games, you can access highlights and most of the game from your dtv box.

  2.9.2007 22:27 #7

• dannymono

  I need to have the ability to burn to DVD because I save all of the games to media for my brother-in-law. (An avid Redskin fan). He doesn't subscribe to Directv.

  4.9.2007 03:19 #8

• albino92

  Originally posted by dannymono: I need to have the ability to burn to DVD because I save all of the games to media for my brother-in-law. (An avid Redskin fan). He doesn't subscribe to Directv.Oh ok i'm sure when superfan starts there will be a way of capturing the live feeds, but for now nobody would really know because no one has used the service yet, but with the season starting this week you'll get your answer soon probably.

  4.9.2007 09:37 #9