Two months ago, the NFL announced that it would be selling the broadcasting rights of next season’s Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills game to a digital distribution company. Last week, the league made their decision on which company to select for this International Series game at Wembley Stadium in London. The NFL settled on Yahoo! Inc., according to a press release. The details on the amount of money Yahoo paid for the rights were not released.
The game will be played on October 25, and will be live streamed via one or some of Yahoo’s global properties, which includes Yahoo, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Screen and Tumblr. These platforms attract more than one billion users every month. Staying true to the terms of the partnership, Yahoo will broadcast the game for free.
Yahoo has some experience with live streaming, most notably their Yahoo Screen Live, which teams up with Live Nation to provide viewers with a free live streamed concert every day.
However, Yahoo’s experience with live streaming sports is not as strong as some other digital distribution companies like YouTube. They did strike a partnership with NBC Sports back in 2012, where they promote NBC Sports Live Extra, and pair some of Yahoo Sports’ content with that of NBC. In that partnership, though, NBC does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to live streaming.
Although it will be their first time live streaming an event of this size, a company like Yahoo, with net assets measuring $61.9 billion and a prominent sports following, should not have too much trouble covering this event.
This game is a test run for the NFL to grow its brand globally. It is being played in London, between two struggling NFL franchises, and the NFL will use the matchup to test the waters. Perhaps they will look to expand their live streaming to more games per season. But first, Yahoo must deliver.
