Hop To It. Kangaroo TV Is For Ultimate NFL Fans

I used to hate leaving my home as I missed too many of my favorite TV programs. Of course this was before VCRs and then DVRs but I was a homebody growing up. As a sports fan I really hated missing games of my teams.

The folks at Kangaroo TV must love TV and sports as much as I do. Their handheld devices allow spectators at sporting events to tune in the action they are watching, including camera angles and interviews not possible through your plain old binoculars.

The company has rented these small wireless units at Formula 1 and NASCAR races for the past few years. But Kangaroo has hopped down to Houston via a deal with the Texans and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket.

The Texans are one of four NFL teams to offer Kangaroo TV service this year. Here's how it works:

• Visit a kiosk on game day at Reliant Stadium and bring your credit card. Fill out a quick information sheet and pay $24.95 to rent the device during that game. You can also rent it for the entire season at $129.95. There is a web site to rent it online and pick it at the stadium.
  
• The unit comes in a bag with headphones, neck strap, battery charger and an extra battery. Turn it on, plug the headphones in and you are in business.

The units only work inside the stadium on game day as the content is delivered through the NFL Sunday Ticket via DirecTV. It's wireless so you can tote it to the snack stand, mezzanine and bathroom so as not to miss one play.

I tried Kangaroo at the Texans season opener thinking I would solely watch other early games instead of watching our home team stink it up. To everyone's surprise the Texans played like champs which kept my eyes going back and forth between live action on the field and the seven other games being played around the NFL.

There were no instructions other than the 20-second explanation from the nice girl who rented me the unit. It took me about the first quarter of the game to figure out everything to view but then it was easy to maneuver.

Kangaroo shows live video for up to 10 games including the Texans' feed. The device has a color screen about 3 1/2 diagonal inches. It is certainly not HD and the picture was a bit jumpy at times probably because I was walking around parts of the stadium with less than stellar wireless coverage.

But the ability to watch the action from all those games is great. Other content features include real-time fantasy stats from NFL.com, game stats from across the league, DIRECTV Red Zone channel and even CBS and FOX pre-game shows

Kangaroo TV is not for everyone especially the die-hard home team fan who wants to concentrate on nothing other than the game on the field and who is bringing him his next beer. It is a perfect way for fans of other teams who want to monitor those games while cheering for the Texans.

The Texans are 1-0 since Kangaroo came to town. Let's hope they continue to offer the service through the Super Bowl.