The NFL’s bet on streaming is paying off and helping to grow its fan base in the United States and around the world.
Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, said Tuesday at CNBC x Boardroom’s Game Plan sports business event that the league’s recent series of exclusive streaming deals with media companies showcase its efforts to expand its audience.
When the NFL signs an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal in 2021, streaming will already be part of the equation. “Thursday Night Football” AmazonUnder the deal, Prime Video has been given the go-ahead, while other traditional media broadcast partners have been given the go-ahead to start streaming games on their services.
And this is just the beginning. The following year, the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package, which allowed spectators to attend out-of-market games, moved to GoogleYouTube TV. ComcastNBCUniversal began airing “Sunday Night Football” games on Peacock alongside its regular live broadcasts, then launched an exclusive wild-card game that will only air on its streaming service. streaming giant Netflix Then starting this year, a deal was struck to broadcast the game on Christmas Day.
“I think these latest moves are the latest in a journey that goes back probably 15 years ago, when we met with Steve Jobs and a small group of us,” Schroeder said. apple The CEO showed the group an early version of the iPhone and described how it would impact consumers. “That’s partly what led to us retaining the rights to live stream games on mobile phones.”
Schroeder said this is the first of various steps the NFL is taking to get to where it is today, with much of its media rights strategy focused on streaming.
Earlier this year, Peacock’s exclusive broadcast of the NFL’s wild-card game showed that the strategy is paying off. It is considered the most broadcast live event in history, with 27.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
“I think this is probably the most transformative moment for us in the last few years that we can launch a wild card game that is really one of the highest value and highest rated games (on Peacock) this year,” Schroeder said.
The streaming expansion continues into this season. Last week, the NFL’s first game in Brazil aired exclusively on Peacock, average 14 million viewers.
“I give a lot of credit to the NFL to put on our white lab coats and experiment,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said at the Game Plan event.
He pointed out that Peacock’s sports strategy began with the launch of the Premier League and other sports events such as the NFL in 2020, and will continue to develop through NBA games in the 2025-26 season.
Likewise, Lori Conkling, YouTube’s global head of TV, movies and sports partnerships, said at Tuesday’s conference that the data the company has across its platforms shows high viewership for sports events and highlighted why “Sunday Ticket” makes sense as a product.
Most of the NFL’s media rights deals are with traditional broadcast partners. Even as consumers switch from cable TV to streaming services, live sports still have a large audience on traditional TV. According to ratings data, the majority of viewership still comes from traditional television.
Schroeder said Tuesday that the NFL’s strategy exists in both traditional television and streaming. Still, the league says it wants to grow its fan base and move in the same direction as consumers, namely streaming. The league has also been trying to expand beyond the United States, with overseas games being just one part of that effort.
“The Netflix deal is probably the first truly global deal,” Schroeder said. “For us, I think there’s an expectation that our global audience will be comparable to the U.S. windows.”
Netflix will broadcast NFL games over the next three years, with two games on the platform this year and at least one game in 2025 and 2026.
Revealed: Comcast-owned NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
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