DirecTV to launch fantasy football channel for NFL coverage

US satellite-television provider DirecTV will launch a channel dedicated to fantasy football as part of its Sunday Ticket package covering the NFL American football league.

DirecTV Fantasy Zone will be a live fantasy football show available exclusively to NFL Sunday Ticket Max subscribers every Sunday afternoon during the upcoming 2014 regular season.

DirecTV said the channel will provide “timely” game-to-game fantasy analysis and statistics powered by the NFL.com Fantasy website along with multiple, revolving on-screen tickers offering real-time statistics, highlights, projections and key player updates. DirecTV Fantasy Zone will sit alongside the Red Zone Channel, which provides key moments from all Sunday games as they happen.

Daniel York, chief content officer of DirecTV, said: “NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV strives to provide NFL fantasy players with even more content to help manage their teams. We’ve added a variety of unique features to our fantasy offerings over the years and creating DirecTV Fantasy Zone is the next logical step.”

DirecTV is currently in talks with the NFL over renewing the rights for Sunday Ticket beyond the 2014-15 season. Sunday Ticket is an out-of-market subscription package that was launched by DirecTV in 1994, allowing subscribers to access Sunday afternoon games broadcast by US networks CBS and Fox.