Common NFL Sunday Ticket Problems & Fixes

First things first, we want to address some common NFL Sunday Ticket app problems. These days millions of people watch the NFL on phones or tablets, and that means you use the app all the time. By the way, you can watch the ticket on Amazon, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

For starters, the NFL Sunday Ticket does not offer pre-season games, which is why the service wasn’t working earlier this year. The app opened for live-streaming on Thursday, September 5th, 2019, and will continue throughout the regular season.

The app will fully function as expected until the end of the regular season — and that’s important. The NFL Sunday Ticket app doesn’t cover playoffs, so you’ll have to watch those games on regular channels or DirecTV. That’s not a problem though, as the playoffs are always nationally televised.

Read: How to Watch NFL Games Without Cable or Satellite 

If you’re dealing with the app crashing, login issues, or stutters and bad performance, we can help you with that too. First, make sure you have the latest version by checking for updates on the App Store or Google Play. In fact, we recommend all returning customers uninstall the app and reinstall DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket each year. Just to clear things out and get the latest version. You can also manually force close the app and relaunch it, to fix any small problems.

Additionally, if the app misbehaves or freezes try rebooting your phone, tablet, iPad, Xbox, Apple TV, Roku or other devices and login again. And finally, if you have the Sunday Ticket and the app is struggling, you can watch it through Amazon Prime just by downloading the app. That way if you’re already someone that uses Amazon, you don’t have to flip back to the glitchy app from AT&T. Amazon streams all the Thursday night games, too.

How to Install the NFL Sunday Ticket App

• Download for iPhone
• Download for iPad
• Download on Android Phones
• Download for Android Tablets
• Microsoft Store Download Link
• Amazon App Store

Keep in mind that you need a different app for phones, tablets, or other media devices. It’s also available for Roku and more.  Make sure you download the version for your iPhone AND your iPad, or you’ll experience Sunday Ticket app problems.

Note: If you experience trouble with video playback repeatedly, try uninstalling the app and reinstalling it.

DirecTV Sunday Ticket Login Problems

Another issue we see all over Twitter and the AT&T support forums is regarding login problems. Whether you can’t log into the app, dealing with problems online, or are trying to upgrade or renew your Ticket plan at the website. It’s frustrating, especially when all you want is to watch the game.

The biggest login problem we usually see is those with an NFL Sunday Ticket TV U student pass. Students get the ticket for only $99 a month.

A lot of students signed up for the ticket but faced problems at the beginning of the year. Students are reporting that after logging in, the system is saying the Sunday Ticket isn’t part of their programming, or that their receivers aren’t set up. Two odd errors for a student plan.

So far the only fix we’ve found is to cancel your Sunday Ticket U student discount and resubscribe. Those that ordered it earlier this year or over the summer are somehow excluded from the service. Next year for the 2020-21 season subscribe to the student plan a day or two before the season starts, not months in advance. That apparently caused most of the problems.

If you’re having other issues click here to reset your username or password. Then, you’ll be able to choose a new one and log in. We’ll continuously monitor for login problems and update this post as we find more fixes. You can always try the Troubleshoot & Resolve Tool if it’s urgent. If you try the wrong password too many times and get locked out, call DirecTV at 800.288.2020. 

Sunday Ticket Streaming Problems

If you’re having NFL Sunday Ticket audio, video, or streaming problems try these three quick fixes.

• Try a lower bandwidth setting using the Video Quality (VQ) indicator
• Close out all other applications or streams on the computer, phone, or tablet
• Ensure you have a strong WiFi Signal, or move closer to your wireless router
• Or, try rebooting your wireless router for a fresh start and faster internet
• Use a WiFi Analyzer app to choose the strongest WiFi channel for your house

If your stream isn’t working right it’s likely because your internet is too slow, or you have too much going on. If kids are downloading music and movies, streaming YouTube in another room, and doing other things while you’re trying to stream the Sunday Ticket at the same time, it might struggle.

Depending on your internet speed things will run great, or get choppy. Try the tips above, lower the quality setting, or buy faster internet from your service provider. Again, try restarting the app, restarting your device, or unplugging and restarting your WiFi router for a better experience.

I found that my neighborhood all used the same Wifi channels for both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, and they were clogged up. I then used WiFi Analyzer to find a clean channel without a lot of traffic, signed into my router and switched to a fresh channel. Now I get faster more stable internet and my NFL streams are buttery smooth.

Is DirecTV or the Sunday Ticket Down?

Sometimes a major problem emerges that you can’t fix, and we can’t fix. Occasionally the NFL Sunday Ticket will go down completely, DirecTV will have an outage, or worse. This season everyone experienced an outage on October 13th, killing the Sunday ticket stream for almost everyone, and they weren’t too happy about it on Twitter.

Ridiculous! You never have an technical difficulties taking my money!

— Louie De La Rosa (@LouLouart007) October 13, 2019

Some people missed almost the entire game, which is frustrating. Especially for a service that’s only running a day or so a week. We saw something similar back in 2017 and everyone lost the NFL RedZone channel temporarily. These usually fix themselves after a short period so just sit tight.

If you have purchased NFL Sunday Ticket Max and are having issues viewing Red Zone, please call 1-800-GET-SPORTS.

— Red Zone Channel (@RedZoneChannel) September 17, 2017

Before you start troubleshooting like crazy and getting on the phone only to sit on hold for an hour, make sure it’s worth trying. Popular sites like DownDetector will let you know of a service outage. Check if DirecTV is having an issue, or check the #SundayTicket hashtag on Twitter to see if others are experiencing it too. If so, you’re out of luck. Otherwise, proceed with our other tips or call in for help.

Sunday Ticket Max Problems

Do you have the Sunday Ticket MAX? If not, here’s how it’s different so you know what you’re missing. If you do, and you’re dealing with problems, you’re out of luck. Typically MAX problems are the same as any other situation, so follow our steps above, call for help, reboot the app, etc. However, Max does offer multiple streams, and we do see the occasional complaint about that.

MAX gives you more channels, more streaming options, Shortcuts, replays and a bunch of other content. Additionally, it lets you watch the Sunday Ticket on more devices than you can imagine. It’s basically the highest tier they offer, giving you all-out access anywhere, anytime, from almost any device. It’s the best option for die-hard NFL fans. For any and all problems, call 1-877-399-8542 for help.

Can’t Watch Multiple Games with Sunday Ticket (or Multi-Device)

Last but not least, a question we see all the time is about watching more than one game at a time. Yes, you can absolutely watch more than one game at a time using the Game Mix mode. This actually lets you stream four games at once.

This works on any and all platforms. It’s one of the best parts of the Ticket. However, you CANNOT watch the NFL Sunday Ticket on more than one device at a time. There’s a big difference between multiple games at once, and multiple devices at once. Furthermore, we see a lot of complaints that people trying to use the app get an error that they’re signed in somewhere else. You can actually go into your account and clear sign-ins, which is a good idea at the beginning of each season or if you’re switching devices.

Unfortunately, they don’t have a friendly policy like Netflix or HBO with account sharing, and they lock this down tight. This means only one device can access your NFL Sunday Ticket subscription and account at any given time. Your kids can’t watch a game on their phone while you enjoy a different game in the living room.