New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - TV ratings falling, how the NFL is now watched

While his teammates went through final warmups 2,000 miles away, Marshon Lattimore sat at home in New Orleans, nursing an ankle injury. With his left ankle propped up on pillows, the rookie flipped through channels looking for the nationally televised Week 12 game between his Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. His heart sank when he soon realized, with his DirecTV Now subscription—the non-satellite, over-the-top streaming version of DirecTV—he didn’t have access to local channels, including the CBS affiliate airing the game. He reached for a lifeline: Twitter.

“Who got a NFL Sunday Ticket login? Lol”

Immediately, dozens of Twitter followers replied, offering up their log-ins, or links to free (but illegal) game streams posted on Reddit. When it comes to his viewing habits, the 21-year-old Lattimore is representative of the millennial generation, cord-cutters who find ways to stream live games online, or mooch off someone else’s log-in. Considering the four-year, $15 million dollar contract he signed last spring, Lattimore could surely afford a subscription to DirectTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket, the only (legal) way to watch every out-of-market game live. But, “It’s not worth it,” he says. “I’m still cheap.”

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