NFL putting Sunday night games on Web for first time

Just in time for the start of the National Football League's training camp, our dogged TV-industry reporter, Meg James, has a great scoop: In September, the NFL is going to start streaming live games on the Web for the first time.

That's right, bone-jarring tackles and John Madden's oh-so-coherent analysis coming at you live on the small small screen!

The NFL hasn't granted the right to stream all of its games online, mind you -- just NBC's "Sunday Night Football" program.

But it's another step for a league that has been notoriously stingy in spreading its video programming on the Web. The NFL last year offered streamed games to some DirectTV subscribers who sign up for football packages. This deal with NBC will mark the first time the league is offering live feeds of its games on the Web for anyone to watch.

James writes:

The move is an attempt by the NFL to transition the nation's most popular sport on television into the digital age by attracting younger viewers, like college kids in dorm rooms, who now get most of their entertainment and information from laptops.

Partnering with the NFL will be NBC, which broadcasts the league's games on Sunday nights. NBC will make its television feed -- including Al Michaels' play-by-play and John Madden's color commentary -- available on the websites of both the network and league. NBC will sell the advertising for the venture and presumably share the revenue with the NFL.

Historically, the NFL has tightly held rights to its games and even to clips of highlights. It has proceeded slowly into the online world, in part, to avoid antagonizing networks who collectively pay the league $3.7 billion a year in rights fees to carry their games.

Read the full story for more details on why the NFL is making the move and how it's lagging behind other professional sports leagues.

-- Chris Gaither

Photo courtesy of NBC

Comments

[Fher]

What about “localization” detection? FOX-Microsoft video can tell where in the world is the audience and they block the content from users if they are not US residents. We complaint about China and other countries blocking the ‘open’ internet, that is retarded, I hope NBC doesn’t come with the some stupid communist policy.