American Airlines has reached agreements with Dish Network and DirecTV to provide live sports and news during flights. All passengers will have free access to a wide range of networks via their own devices, including ESPN, NFL Network, CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Live Sports Is a Game Changer
Airlines have generally provided their passengers with movies and television shows. Watching a live NFL game while in flight was simply not feasible for a long time, but that has changed recently with satellite internet and W-Fi innovations. Airlines like Americans have also invested greatly in those technologies. The company feels that live sports will generate a great deal of excitement among customers and will result in additional ticket sales when consumers are faced with an otherwise comparable choice. It is not hard to imagine an NFL fan who has to travel on Sunday targeting American Airlines because of that option.
Not New to the Inflight World
DirecTV and Dish are not new to providing inflight television services to airlines. DirecTV has a longstanding agreement in place with JetBlue, and Dish has a longstanding agreement in place with Southwest. While live sports are available in both cases, that availability is more limited than what American Airlines intends. There is no word yet whether JetBlue and Southwest intend to update their agreements in order to offer similar options when it comes to live events.
A Different Approach
Both JetBlue and Southwest have embedded monitors on their flights. The companies both have a number of different systems, and which system is present on a particular flight dictates which channels are available. American Airlines, however, has largely opted not to have seatback systems and instead feed content to passengers via their own devices. An upside of this approach is that American Airlines can deliver a consistent experience across all of their flights. A potential downside is that the passenger experience is dictated by the device or devices that they have on them. Passengers who only bring their smartphones, for instance, may have a lesser experience than those who have tablets and laptops.
Launch Coincides With 2021 NFL Season Kickoff
The timing of the announcement by American Airlines is not a coincidence. An important aspect of both deals that the airline negotiated was that the service be available by September 9 when the Tamp Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys kicked off the season. American Airlines even hired Hall of Fame football player Michael Irvin to be a spokesperson and to appear in a commercial that began airing on September 8 and continued airing throughout the weekend during the various NFL games.
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Live Football Is Back in Flight
The marketing slogan is live football is back on American Airlines. But this time is different since passengers will have access not just to specific NFL games but all NFL games. That does not mean much for Thursday Night Football and Monday Night Football when there is just one showcase game. But it makes a huge difference on Sunday when fans can choose to watch their favorite teams rather than the games that are getting the national coverage.
Connecting is simple too. Using your personal devices, such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, connect to the AA-Inflight Wi-Fi signal. Once connected, you will be redirected to aainflight.com. That site hosts an entertainment portal through which you can select the NFL game of choice or a live news channel and a wide range of other content.
