DirecTV wants people out of reach of its satellite service to enjoy unlimited viewing of NFL football games, and today announced it would test providing them over broadband connections.  For $100 more a year than subscribers pay now for the satellite-delivered football game coverage, DirecTV will will offer New York City viewers as many NFL games they can watch over their broadband connection for $349 a year.

DirecTV claims it will sell the service only to those who cannot obtain satellite service from the company, which presumably will limit the broadband content to apartment dwellers and other urban residents who can’t mount a satellite dish.  But in a city like New York, that can easily mean tens of thousands of potential new customers, all watching video content delivered by Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, RCN, or Verizon’s broadband services.  USA Today covered the story this morning:

DirecTV has few customers [in New York City] because skyscrapers block signals coming from satellites orbiting the equator. Also, many landlords and co-op boards don’t allow residents to get a satellite service.

“A lot of the buildings (that can’t get DirecTV) we already have in databases because they’ve got exclusive contracts with cable guys,” says Derek Chang, executive vice president for content strategy and development.

To see the games, broadband customers will download a special video player and punch in a code. Users can install the software on multiple computers, but only one will be able to stream the games at any particular time.

Games with New York’s Jets and Giants, which air on broadcast TV, will be available only when the customer’s computer is outside the New York area.

Cable operators won’t just play defense in the battle for football fans. Comcast will announce today that it will offer the NFL Red Zone Channel to customers of its Sports Entertainment Package. On Sundays, the channel will display football statistics with audio from Sirius XM Radio‘s program “Around the League” — and go live to certain games when the ball is within 20 yards of the goal.

While Cablevision, RCN, and perhaps even Verizon may not express concern about the prospect of carrying NFL games across their networks without “compensation,” Time Warner Cable, which continues to express an interest in Internet Overcharging schemes, may not be so tolerant, especially if the test is successful.  ISPs who support Internet Overcharging routinely use online video growth as a justification for usage caps and consumption pricing.  Will the NFL become part of the Re-education of their customers?

Another question to ponder – would such a service even launch in a broadband marketplace infested with usage caps and limits?