CHICAGO—United has inked a deal with Dish to provide live professional and college football broadcasts from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network and TNF on Prime Video on Starlink-enabled seatback screens for people flying on the airline.
The games began being available this week and will continue through the Super Bowl in February. United expects to have Starlink on nearly 700 airplanes by then.
Starlink’s WiFi in the sky and live TV streaming on seatback screens is now on board more than 220 mainline aircraft for customers in every class of service – up to 700 flights per day – with plans to reach 700 mainline planes early next year. The airline expects to complete installations before the end of 2027.
Starlink is free for MileagePlus members in every class of service.
"Starlink opens a whole new world of features and benefits for our customers, regardless of where they sit on the plane – now football fans don't have to schedule their flights around game day," said Andrew Nocella, United's executive vice president and chief commercial officer. "Instead, they can watch their favorite team on seatback and also make changes to their fantasy roster, text or live chat with friends, or even stream different games on their phone, laptop or tablet, just like they would do at home."
United's new agreement represents a collaborative effort with Dish, utilizing its OnStream platform, to deliver content to next-generation aviation environments.
"With United, we are helping to rewrite the inflight playbook," said Amir Ahmed, executive vice president, video services, Dish. "Whether you're sitting on your couch or cruising at 35,000 feet, you should be able to watch your favorite teams play. By pairing DISH's OnStream platform with United's Starlink connectivity, we're keeping fans connected to the moments that matter most."
United said that the new service is just the latest example of how United is using Starlink to redefine the inflight entertainment experience. Last month, United partnered with ESPN to host a first-of-its kind live Fantasy Football Draft from 30,000 feet where ESPN analyst Tyler Fulghum made his picks live from the sky during the two-hour broadcast. And earlier this summer, United customers could stream the biggest soccer tournament in the world onboard Starlink-powered domestic flights.
Starlink is now active on more than 560 United mainline and United Express® aircraft and the airline has already flown more than 31 million passengers on Starlink-powered aircraft across more than 464,000 flights, powering 14.2 million devices.
