Yahoo "is paying an 'eight-figure sum'" to stream the Oct. 25 Bills-Jaguars game, which will be played in London as part of the NFL Int'l Series, according to a source cited by Brian Stelter of CNN MONEY. The source added that several other companies, "including Google, were involved in the bidding." The source: "The NFL is not losing money by showing this on the Internet instead of TV." Stelter noted even if the game itself is dull, it "will be a glimpse of the future." Yahoo, Google and other web giants "are interested in competing with TV networks for the rights to NFL games" (MONEY.CNN.com, 6/3). RE/CODE's Peter Kafka cited sources as thinking that Yahoo "paid at least" $20M for the rights. Yahoo in return "has exclusive ad rights for the game." It "will be interesting to see how much those ads can generate for Yahoo: On the one hand, the novelty of the Web stream will generate lots of attention from media types." On the other hand, the game "will take place in London on a Sunday afternoon, which means it will air at 9:30 in the morning on the East Coast and 6:30 am on the West Coast." Moreover, since it "features two small/tiny-market teams, its aggregate U.S. audience may be miniscule" (RECODE.net, 6/3).
AD-DITION BY SUBTRACTION: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Kevin Clark notes the deal comes as Yahoo "seeks to attract more advertising dollars with one of its biggest bets yet on live content." The live stream is an "experiment for the NFL, which wants to see how viewers, advertisers and technology companies will respond to games on digital platforms." It also "allows the league to reach so-called cord cutters, viewers who have dropped their pay-TV connections." NFL Exec VP/Media and NFL Network CEO Brian Rolapp said that the trial "is also designed to gather ideas from tech companies on how they would handle game broadcasts." The league said that its only request "was that the winning company have a broad reach." Yahoo Senior VP/Mobile & Emerging Products Adam Cahan said that the company’s focus "will be to distribute the game without a hitch, and also to explore different ways of engaging advertisers." He added that the stream "will open the door to advertisers who have a relationship with Yahoo but aren’t traditional NFL sponsors, or traditional sponsors seeking a global audience, since the game will be available world-wide" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/4). THE STREET's Eric Jackson noted it is hard to predict both how many viewers might watch "around the world" and the "kind of ad revenue" Yahoo could accrue. Jackson cites a source as estimating that the game will draw "500,000 viewers and ad revenue" of about $3-5M. If those figures are accurate, Yahoo "will take a bath on the event" of $13M (THESTREET.com, 6/3). SLATE's Will Oremus wrote even if Yahoo "loses money on the game itself, the move will draw viewer and advertiser attention to its online video offerings, which the company sees as a key to its future." Oremus: "I’m a little surprised Google didn’t outbid Yahoo simply as a defensive maneuver" (SLATE.com, 6/3).
EXCLAMATION MARK FOR YAHOO! In N.Y., Goel & Belson note for Yahoo, winning the rights "is a rare victory against more successful rivals like Google and Facebook, who compete with it for attention and ad dollars." Horizon Media Research Dir Brad Adgate: "It’s a real kudo for Yahoo, a company that’s trying to regain its confidence. It will really help them do a lot of promotions for their other content." Sources at both the NFL and Yahoo said that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer "personally wooed" NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during the negotiations. Under her leadership, Yahoo "has been trying to vastly expand its exclusive video content as it seeks to expand its user base and rebuild its weakened business." The NFL deal "could give Yahoo an inside track in future negotiations if the league expands the number of games it streams." Cahan said that if the NFL experiment is "successful, Yahoo could try to expand further into live sports" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/4). CNET's Don Reisinger wrote for Yahoo, the effort "is part of a broader turnaround strategy" by Mayer. During her tenure, she "has implemented a strategy focused on major acquisitions" (CNET.com, 6/3). Cahan said, "We've had a lot of experience here, we've done lots of large-scale live events ... (and) one of the things that's really exciting for us is the global reach here. We think the NFL and football, especially the fact that this is happening in London, really will bring a global audience" (“Squawk Alley,” CNBC, 6/3).
BROADCASTING A WIDE NET: THE VERGE's Chris Welch wrote networks like CBS and Fox "don't need to worry about losing America's biggest sport to Yahoo, YouTube, or anyone else for many years; they've got rights for Sunday games locked up" through '22. If anything, "Thursday Night Football" presents the "best opportunity for streaming services to get into the game." The arrangement, which sees NFL Network air eight of those games each season, with CBS getting the other half, "will carry through 2015, but what happens after this year is less certain" (THEVERGE.com, 6/3). Rolapp said, “Reach is very, very important, and the NFL is in part built itself on creating really good content from the most dominant media platform of the day. That has traditionally been television, and television is still very, very important to us. But the shifts in how our fans interact with content, the shifts in how everyone interacts with content over digital and mobile platforms, has us thinking, ‘Well, how do we reach more people?’ And Yahoo, who reaches a billion people a month, is one way to do it." He added, "I'm not sure we would have done this four years ago, but four years in Internet time is a long time. When you see the dollars shifting from television and other mediums to digital platforms, to mobile platforms, at an accelerating rate, while it still may be in its infancy, it is moving quickly. So we think that there is plenty of advertiser demand, there's clearly consumer demand. ... This is clearly the beginning of the shift, not the end and so for us" (“Squawk Alley,” CNBC, 6/3).
WILL THE WORLD BE WATCHING? THE MMQB's Peter King noted the NFL "will be closely monitoring the ratings and access points to this game." Rolapp noted that Bills-Jaguars "will be shown at 4:30 p.m. in Moscow, 9:30 p.m. in Beijing and 10:30 p.m. in Tokyo. 'Prime time.'" He added this "will give us a good idea” of the reach of NFL games in Asia. King noted it "would have been easy for the league to take a headline game and put it on the internet, and get boffo numbers." But this game "will be a good measuring stick for the NFL" because if it "can get eyes around the world, imagine" what Cowboys-Packers would get (MMQB.SI.com, 6/3).
