NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan Details

With many NFL fans getting ready to shell out a few hundred dollars for the Direct TV Sunday Ticket package, another question awaits, should I pay another $99 for the SuperFan package?

So what exactly is the Superfan package, and why do you need it? Well you don’t need it, its not food, water, or shelter. But as the typical NFL fan, you will probably want it.

The Superfan package is an add-on to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, you can’t buy it all by itself. As mentioned, the stated price is $99, but depending on your negotiating skills, you may be able to get that lowered, or free, or some sort of other credit depending on your history with Direct TV. Some of the features in the Superfan package include:

NFL Sunday Ticket HD Games- OK this one is certainly a sticking point with a lot of Direct TV customers who already pay the $9.99 a month HD access fee. The standard Sunday ticket comes in standard definition, and while the network games will mostly be in HD this year, you have to get Superfan to watch the rest of the games in HD.

NFL Sunday Ticket Game Mix- Kind of like sitting in the sportsbook in Las Vegas, with a screen full of monitors in front of you. Up to 8 games at a time are presented all in one screen. Easily switch the audio from your remote control to hear the game you want. The only problem is that the screens can be pretty small when so many games are pushed together in one screen, solve this by going out and buying a bigger HDTV.

NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone Channel- While a little bit of a roller coaster ride, this channel has become a favorite of fantasy football diehards, and those who hate the endless stream of commercials that continue to bog down NFL games. The Red Zone channel moves you from game to game based on where the action is. Anytime a team is in scoring range, usually within the 20 yard line, this channel takes you to the action. After they score, you are moved on to the next game where a team is threatening. No wasted time on excessive replays, kickoffs, and best of all, commercials.

Direct TV Supercast- Good for traveling salesmen, I guess. This allows you to stream the games to your PC, anywhere in the world. Also plenty of statistics and scores are found here as well. Probably not one of the top features of the Superfan package.

NFL Short Cuts- A nice feature for fantasy players scouting out new talent. The Short Cuts replay each game without commercial interruption in less than 30 minutes. How do they do that? No commercials, and no downtime, interesting to think that each NFL game contains less than 30 minutes of actual play. These replays start at midnight ET Sunday night and stop at midnight ET on Tuesday.

NFL Sunday Ticket Mobile Highlights- This feature will send clips, stats, and scores to your cell phone.

So those are the highlights. The lowlight of course is the cost. But if you figure the complete cost of the NFL Sunday Ticket plus Superfan is probably about the same as taking the family to one NFL game, you can see why it remains a popular product for Direct TV.

If you are considering a switch to satellite TV from DISH Network, Comcast, Time Warner, or any other provider, new DirecTV customers can get four months of free programming when buying the NFL Sunday Ticket package.