YouTube pushing obnoxious fullscreen ads for NFL Sunday Ticket in its apps

Ben Schoon | Sep 5 2023 - 5:26 pm PT

NFL Sunday Ticket is one of the biggest deals in sports, and the fact that it’s available on YouTube and YouTube TV is great for customers. However, in the lead up to the first games, YouTube is being more than a little pushy in advertising NFL Sunday Ticket in its apps.

The NFL season kicks off on September 10, with Sunday Ticket remaining the best way to access games that are out-of-market. The package was long exclusive to DirecTV, but a deal between Google and the NFL earlier this year secured the rights for YouTube and YouTube TV to broadcast games through the internet, at least for consumers.

Ahead of Week 1, YouTube has been aggressively advertising Sunday Ticket, and rightfully so, but its latest push is just a bit strong.

Over the past day, YouTube has started showing large, even fullscreen ads for NFL Sunday Ticket through its apps. On an Android tablet, we observed a fullscreen ad for the package that blocked all regular content through the app until we manually closed the pop-up. Some users report similar behavior on iOS.

The YouTube TV app, meanwhile, isn’t showing any pop-ups, but is showing NFL Sunday Ticket prominently on the homepage even if you’re not subscribed.

Equally pushy is a large banner showing on YouTube’s TV app, as pictured below on a Google TV streaming device. The large banner is similar to general YouTube ads, but is showing even on our account, which is subscribed to the now-more-expensive YouTube Premium.

It’s a very aggressive tactic on YouTube’s behalf, and one we hope won’t continue as the NFL season continues. Given how much Google spent on Sunday Ticket rights, though, we might be seeing these frankly obnoxious ads for a while.