The glitch hits when "bonus coverage" of an early game spills into the 4:25 p.m. ET window. Because the late game will eventually air on a local Fox or CBS affiliate, Sunday Ticket blocks it for fans outside both teams' markets.
It has already happened multiple times this season. On Sunday, fans outside Seattle and San Francisco had no way to watch 49ers-Seahawks until bonus coverage of the 70-minute Giants-Commanders game ended. The broadcast began with 4:47 left in the first quarter. Lions-Cardinals fans outside Detroit and Phoenix missed the early portions of their game the same way.
Sunday Ticket sold for years as a way for a Steelers fan outside Pittsburgh to watch every Steelers game, and the pitch later shifted to letting zealous fans watch all games. YouTube and the NFL have yet to fix the problem.
YouTube reportedly believes the NFL could "deconstruct" Sunday Ticket as of 2030.