YouTube shelled out a lot for the NFL and the early results are finally in

YouTube made multi-billion dollar gamble on the NFL, and the early returns seem to be positive.

The NFL's top package called "NFL Sunday Ticket" attracted around 1.3 million sign-ups, according to Antenna and first reported by Bloomberg. That number is already higher than the 1.2 million customers it had under DirecTV.

Related: The NFL is exploring another crucial growth opportunity

"NFL Sunday Ticket" was acquired by YouTube, a Google  (GOOGL) - Get Free Report subsidiary, in late 2022 through a seven-year deal worth $2 billion annually. 

“It’s a really great win-win for the NFL and YouTube,” Antenna’s co-founder and chief executive officer Jonathan Carson told Bloomberg.

The package allows viewers to watch out-of-market games. It starts at $349 for the base package or $389 with RedZone for subscribers of YouTubeTV, which is $72.99 on its own. Non-YouTubeTV subscribers can access the "Sunday Night Ticket" package for the $449 price or $489 with RedZone.

Around 41% of the subscribers of the service that decided to purchase it as an add-on are actually new YouTubeTV subscribers.

Related: YouTube Just Had an NBA Streaming Disaster and NFL Fans are Worried

As regional sports networks continue to struggle to maintain a customer base, national services of sports leagues continue to grow their base. These services, which include the NBA's League Pass and NFL+, Antenna told Bloomberg. 

These numbers should only push the move to more streaming services for live sports properties. While the NFL still relies heavily on traditional networks like Fox, CBS, and NBC, its already averaging 13.5 million viewers on Amazon so far this season, according to the network. That's despite being behind the company's $14.99 per month paywall for Amazon Prime.

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