The NFL has picked Yahoo to stream an over-the-top regular-season game in October, the first NFL game to be live streamed. A source said that the deal involves a license fee that would match what TV nets pay for a regular-season game, as the NFL and Yahoo calculated “fair market value” for what one NFL game is worth, based on what CBS and Fox pay for their packages. Since it is an AFC game, CBS Sports will handle the game production, providing the announcers and behind-the-camera talent. Yahoo will make the Oct. 25 Bills-Jaguars game, which will be played in London as part of the NFL’s Int'l Series, available at no extra cost on its properties, which include Yahoo, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Screen and Tumblr. The game will be available on local TV in the Buffalo (WIVB) and Jacksonville (WJAX) markets. NFL VP/Digital Media Business Development Vishal Shah said the league was swayed by Yahoo’s global reach, which hits more than 1 billion monthly users, especially considering that the game kicks off early on the East Coast. Shah said, “Yahoo’s global reach really helps with that 9:30am kickoff.". The NFL in February started looking for a partner and engaged other companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon. The league has long maintained that this OTT offering is as much of a test as anything else, considering that it is the league’s first foray into live streaming a regular-season game. Shah: "We know what we know, and we don’t know what we don’t know. There will be lots of learnings from this. Digital distribution is far different from TV.” Sources said that the NFL is shopping social media rights around this game that will help give it more promotion. An announcement with a social media partner, such as Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat, is expected to be announced in the coming months.
