NFL fans in Washington and Miami are getting their games on more than ever through a pilot program between Kangaroo TV and DirecTV.

Using Kangaroo TV’s handheld unit with a 4-by-3 inch screen, visitors to the Washington Redskins’ Fedex Field or Miami Dolphins’ Dolphins Field can watch any game available on DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package.

The service is being launched with a price of $39.95 for a single-day use or $159 for a six-game rental that covers the remainder of the home season for the two teams. For 1 p.m. kickoffs, users can carry the Kangaroo TV unit into the stadium and watch full coverage of other NFL games and related content from about 10 a.m. EDT to 5:30 p.m. EDT.

After some product testing performed in Miami, Kangaroo TV launched the service Oct. 1 at Fedex Field during the Redskins-Jacksonville Jaguars game. Andy Bernstein, Kangaroo TV’s vice president of U.S. markets, said his company had more than 1,000 units on-hand for the first game, of which he said “we had several hundred [rented] out there, and we hope to have more the next week.”

Before its NFL venture, Kangaroo TV established itself at NASCAR and Formula One motor racing events, where “[we’ve] sold out in many races,” Bernstein said. “With motor sports you can hear the drivers’ radio communications to the pit crews and see the race from the in-car cameras.”

“Fans in general are looking for portable devices, and this is a natural extension for NFL Sunday Ticket, to put it in the stands and parking lot for tailgaters,” DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said. The NFL Sunday Ticket In-Stadium By DirecTV package is “made for the sports fans who are looking for that immersive experience, fans who love the interactive applications, whether to check the stats or just stay on top of all the action. We’re getting big chunks of additional yardage through the application of this device. It’s a natural,” he said.

More importantly to fans of fantasy football, the service also provides a summary of what individual players around the league are doing with the Red Zone Channel, a feature which bounces from game to game whenever a team’s offense moves the ball inside its opponent’s 20-yard line. A narrator announces the on-screen game change and explains the current situation. Also, the interactive on-demand feature provides updated scores and stats from around the league.

Regardless of the game being watched, Mercer said, “anytime anyone does something significant — if Ben Roethlisberger throws a TD pass, or Corey Dillon breaks a long run — you get a Big Play Alert pop-up to say they’ve done it. You can click on [either a full-screen or L-wrap pop-up] to see pretty much anything from the [quarterback]-receiver combination or runner’s scoring distance, to kicking or defense alerts if Jake Reed misses a field goal or there’s an interception return for a touchdown. You can also change the frequency of the alerts, so it’s fully changeable” depending on the user’s preferences.

That, of course, is the audience Kangaroo is looking to hop on. By next season, Bernstein explained, “we hope to be with many more clubs; this is the starting point for something that we think will be really prevalent. You get the best of both worlds, the excitement of being at the game yet everything you’d get with the NFL package at home.”

He added “over time, there will be a lot of applications. It’s created for a fan’s experience, going beyond simply watching. This is one of the first examples of that.”

Mercer says the service is a chance for DirecTV to reach beyond, too. “Through Kangaroo TV we’re able to extend the brand and the NFL Sunday Ticket experience throughout the stands and the beer cooler. It’s a must-have for tailgaters” who he hopes will consider DirecTV a must have, too.

Should that all sound too much for a football widow to bear, Mercer added that they have not been forgotten, either. “We’re working on a portable service, DirecTV To Go, that will be available next year [and] allows you to download a recorded program from your digital video recorder to watch as you’re headed out of town, etc., or anywhere else you want to take it with you” for an entirely different kind of instant replay.

–JJ McCoy