Just one game into the NFL season, football fans are already expressing their anger with YouTube's coverage of local games. Reported geolocation errors have prevented regional NFL supporters from watching their home team games.
Fans on Reddit implied that their biggest issue with the platform is their own tolerance for the service despite the incorrect geolocations. The GPS tracking issues blocked them from catching their favorite teams in Week 1 of the NFL season , even if they've subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket .
One notably irate fan from New Jersey took to the platform to air his grudge, slamming the NFL's blackout rules as "stupid and evil." The die-hard New York Giants supporter said YouTubeTV placed him in a Philadelphia Eagles broadcast zone despite the Giants and New York Jets playing their home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, just five miles from NYC.
After discovering his hometown was missing from the official list of areas designated for exclusive Eagles coverage, the user noted no way of rectifying the issue. Instead of watching the Giants suffer a lopsided 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings , which resulted in fans burning the jersey of quarterback Daniel Jones , he was forced to witness their NFC East Rival earn a 34-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil .
The fan’s complaint sparked a Reddit thread filled with similar stories of fans stuck in "fringe zones," where they couldn’t watch their local teams. Last July, the NFL was ordered by a federal jury to pay out funds for violating antitrust laws regarding out-of-market league games. The league was also accused of charging inflated prices for Sunday Ticket packages .
After the anger, the thread became flooded with suggestions for how YouTubeTV could fix the problem, with one of the most popular ideas being that the platform should allow users to lock in on their favorite team when subscribing. While most anger was directed at the NFL's outdated blackout rules, not everyone blamed the league.
One commenter took a distinctly opposing stance, saying the real problem lies with consumers. They argued that the solution was simple: stop supporting the product.“The logical thing to do would be to probably just stop watching games and supporting them, but I suppose that would require accepting some responsibility for one’s actions,” the user wrote.
“The number one issue we have as consumers today is that there’s no collective backbone.” Historically, NFL games have experienced blackout rules that stop local games from appearing on streaming services if local TV stations already have broadcast rights.
Google Support's YouTubeTV FAQ section states that users must verify their physical location with their mobile device using a QR code at sign-up. The help forum also noted that users can set up a home network with the YouTube TV application if they have a smart TV.
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