For NFL fans, games are typically watched through cable television or at sports bars/restaurants and the like. It isn’t often that viewers and fans get the chance to actually watch the games through modern media platforms like streaming video options, although it has happened before as Yahoo had rights in 2015 to stream a game that was played in London. This year it looks like the NFL is looking to stream three total games that are to be played in London following the success of last year’s stream, and they are said to currently be in talks with a few major technology companies for the exclusive rights to stream the games.
While there is no set provider just yet, the National Football League is reportedly in talks with Google, Apple, and others to win the streaming rights, giving either company a first-time chance to stream NFL games via outlets like YouTube or Apple TV. Utilizing Google or Apple as an avenue to live stream games makes sense as more and more consumers are choosing to cancel cable subscriptions and instead opt to view streamed content as the subscription fees can be less than a typical cable package subscription cost.
Last year the game stream on Yahoo saw substantial success, reaching a total number of about 15.2 million viewers for the game. The games which are up for streaming rights in London are slated to start on October 2nd of this eyar starting with the Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars game, followed by the New York Giants and St Louis Rams matchup on October 23rd, and finally the Washingtons Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals game on Octboer 30th. Whether or not the streams of this year’s games will see the same success is unclear, but both Apple and Google are larger than Yahoo with streaming services that could potentially reach more viewers than Yahoo last year, making it possible to see a larger number of viewers tuning in to stream the game. It’s also unknown whether the NFL will be looking to assign streaming rights for all three games to one buyer or split them up, and there is no detail on the cost of the contract for the streams.