Verizon paid more than $20M to pick up the OTT streaming rights to the Sept. 24 Ravens-Jaguars game at London’s Wembley Stadium. CBS Sports will produce the game and carry it on its local affiliates in Jacksonville and Baltimore. Sky Sports also has the rights to carry the game on TV in Britain. Verizon will make the game available at no additional cost to a U.S. and international audience. The deal for one London game is similar to the one that Yahoo signed two seasons ago for around $15M. Verizon will have some local ad breaks where it can sell ads. It also is expected to produce its own pregame, halftime and postgame shows, around which it can sell more advertising.
The game’s 9:30am ET kickoff gives the NFL a chance to test its popularity in international markets. It also gives another U.S.-based media company a chance to see the popularity of NFL programming first hand. Through deals with Yahoo, Twitter, Amazon and now Verizon, the NFL is hoping to have more than just traditional TV channels at the negotiating table when its media rights are up early next decade. Verizon will stream the game via AOL, go90 and Complex. It also will be available on the NFL Mobile app to Verizon Wireless customers, and the NFL app on Xbox One and Windows 10.
