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National Football League
American professional football league
The NFL shows how distributing games across multiple providers can make following one team more complicated and expensive.
How Fans Access NFL Games
01
One League, Multiple Providers
NFL games are distributed across television networks and streaming services. The provider carrying a team’s game can change from week to week.
02
A Subscription Has Limits
NFL Sunday Ticket covers out-of-market Sunday afternoon games, not every game in a team’s season. Other games require access through the providers carrying them.
03
Access Depends on the Details
Viewing options depend on location, subscriptions and device. For example, NFL+ limits live local and primetime game viewing to phones and tablets.
What it means for customers
Following a favorite team should feel simple, but watching can require a new decision each week. Fans may need to determine which service carries the game, whether their subscription includes it and which device they can use. A different matchup may require a different provider or additional cost.
NFL games are delivered through multiple networks and streaming services. Each provider may explain its own offering clearly, but customers experience those separate arrangements as one NFL season. They must connect schedules, subscriptions, devices and costs themselves. What appears straightforward within each service can therefore feel fragmented from the customer’s point of view.
An independent guide to finding NFL games across networks and streaming services. Video: Michael Saves.
Where it affects the customer journey
A fan following a team through the season checks where this week’s game is available—and whether another subscription is needed—before kickoff.
Before the Experience
Friction
Friction looks at what makes it harder for customers to move through the experience or complete what they came to do.
What this tells us
More ways to access an experience can create more work and cost for the customer.
How your business can use this
Businesses may use separate systems for booking, payment, delivery or support. Customers still see one business and expect its parts to work together. The goal is not to put everything in one place. It is to reduce unnecessary steps and clearly explain what customers will need, where they should go and what the complete experience will cost.
01
Follow the whole task
Choose one thing a customer wants to accomplish and follow it from start to finish. Note every website, account, payment and handoff. Look for work visible only when the steps are viewed together.
02
Make requirements clear
Tell customers before they begin what accounts, devices, outside services or additional charges they will need. Give them enough information to decide how to proceed.
03
Close the gaps
When customers move between systems or providers, identify the next step and provide a dependable place for help. Remove repetition where possible, and do not leave customers to resolve gaps on their own.
For Example
A Local Restaurant: Bring Ordering Options Together
A restaurant may offer dine-in service, pickup and delivery through several apps. Its website can provide one dependable starting point that explains where to place each type of order, which menu and prices apply, where pickup occurs and whether additional fees are involved. Customers retain several options without having to piece the experience together themselves.
A Tax-Preparation Service: Guide Clients Through One Process
A tax-preparation service may use phone calls, email, online forms and a client portal. It can direct clients to the portal first, explain when another contact method is appropriate and show where to upload documents, ask questions, check progress and review fees. Clients can follow the complete process without needing to understand how the firm operates behind the scenes.
SOURCES
Identifies the networks and streaming services carrying NFL games.
Explains coverage of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games and the distinction from local and national games.
Describes subscription features, including device restrictions for live local and primetime games.
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