Earlier this year, the NFL announced that one regular season game, the Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars contest to be played in London, will be streamed worldwide on a platform available to all. After initial reports that there would be a charge to watch the game, it will be made available gratis to anyone who has an internet connection.
The NFL has awarded the global streaming rights to Yahoo! and that seems to be just about right. After speculation that the NFL could go to Apple, Facebook, Google or another potential platform, Yahoo won the rights in what’s being reported as an eight-figure bid:
The NFL game being streamed on Yahoo will be big litmus test on value of online ads. Yahoo will have ad rights after paying 8 figs for game
— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBJ) June 3, 2015
That is an amazing pricetag for one game and by not selling subscriptions, Yahoo! will have to make money back by selling ads. Will it be able to break even or make a profit? As Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal tweeted, that will be the big eight-figure question.
The game will be made available on television in the home markets of Buffalo and Jacksonville on WIVB and WJAX which are both CBS affiliates. Here’s the joint NFL/Yahoo announcement:
National Football League and Yahoo Partner to Deliver First-Ever Global Live Stream of an NFL Game
NFL game will be distributed to fans worldwide for free across an array of digital devices
The National Football League (NFL) announced today that it has selected Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) as its exclusive partner to deliver the first-ever live stream of an NFL game to a global audience across devices and for free. This partnership will bring the NFL’s International Series game in London, between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars on October 25, to Yahoo properties globally, including Yahoo, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Screen and Tumblr, which attract more than one billion monthly users.
“The NFL has always been committed to being at the forefront of media innovation. Through this partnership with Yahoo – one of the world’s most recognizable digital brands – we are taking another important step in that direction as we continue to closely monitor the rapidly evolving digital media landscape,” said Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League.
“We’re thrilled that the NFL has chosen Yahoo for this historic opportunity,” said Marissa Mayer, President and CEO of Yahoo. “It marks a significant change in the way users can access this amazing content. The NFL and Yahoo have both long engaged football fans around the world. Our partnership provides the ultimate football experience — with digital availability, designed for the modern fan.”
With this partnership, the NFL will extend its digital presence, making some of the most valuable content in sports and entertainment available across multiple digital platforms free for all users. The NFL is leveraging Yahoo’s global audience, digital advertising capabilities, and delivery platforms, which span desktop, mobile, tablet, connected TVs, and set-top boxes, to ensure that the Bills-Jaguars game is accessible on every screen globally.
In keeping with the NFL’s long-standing commitment to make its games available on free, over-the-air television, the game will also be televised in the both the Buffalo (WIVB-TV) and Jacksonville (WTEV-TV) markets at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The press release is wrong in the fact that the Jacksonville station changed its call letters to WJAX last year.
