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After down season, NFL fans angered by prices getting jacked up

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NFL TV ratings were down about 10 percent in the regular season and about 3 percent for the Super Bowl during a 2017 season marred by national anthem protests and injuries to marquee players like Aaron Rodgers and J.J. Watt. The league also felt the effect of a growing number of cable cord cutters.

So, given that trend, it would seem counterintuitive for DirecTV to charge more for its NFL Sunday Ticket package.

But that’s exactly what the company is doing.

For the 2018 season, DirecTV has raised the basic Sunday Ticket package to $293.94, up from $281.94 a year ago, USA Today reports — an increase of about 4 percent..

The price for the max package, which includes the Red Zone channel, will cost $395.94, which is up for 4.5 percent from this past season, the report said.

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The increases are not as high as they were for the 2017 season, when DirecTV raised rates about 9.3 percent for the basic package and roughly 5 percent for the max package, according to USA Today.

And that was after ratings declined about 8 percent in the 2016 season.

The Sunday Ticket packages allow subscribers to have access to every game being played on Sunday, regardless of which market they are in. DirecTV pays about $1.5 billion per year, through 2022, for the broadcast rights.

Are you planning to cancel NFL Sunday Ticket next season?

This past season the satellite provider had some subscribers request cancellation of their service due to the national anthem protests.

Now, many fans are not happy about the rate increase in 2018.

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Will these increases lead to even more subscribers walking away?

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
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