The NFL is planning on streaming a game online for the world to see in 2015
According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, the NFL is planning on streaming one game from the 2015 season via an online entity like Google, Yahoo, or YouTube next season.
The webcast, which is being referred to as an "over-the-top" streaming, would be broadcast in local markets for the two participating teams, but would also have the ability to reach a worldwide audience, most notably the growing number of households who have opted for a non-traditional TV service.
While the NFL games that take place in London seem like a logical choice, the game that is actually chosen, and the company that will stream the game for the league remain to be seen.
“It would have to be a partner who would get behind it promotionally and make sure that people are aware that the game’s available and be able to reach a big audience.” senior VP of media strategy, busness development and sales Hans Schroeder explained.
“We really want to figure out if the landscape is ready for digital-only distribution of a game. A lot of this is trying to anticipate, as the world changes, who our partners are going to be and who may be interested in NFL game rights when we look seven or eight years down the road, or potentially earlier, with ‘Thursday Night Football.’ Is there nontraditional media who would be interested in those games?”
As with most things, the biggest hurdle for the NFL and all others that follow suit will be how to make the most money off of it via advertisers.
Now that the NFL has dipped their toe in the water, it's only a matter of time before college football games (and other sporting events) are regularly streamed online via YouTube or some other online company, thus giving people everywhere a great excuse to cancel their cable subscription.
