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 Great 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 (John Ourand, Staff Writer).
ALL ABOUT SCALE: NFL Senior VP/Digital & Media Business Development Vishal Shah said that Verizon’s scale and large digital platforms will "allow the league to learn more about which distribution partners attract which viewers." The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joe Flint noted for Verizon, which already has an "exclusive mobile package with the NFL, the game gives it an opportunity to showcase its platforms." Verizon Head of Content Strategy, Acquisition & Programming Erin McPherson said it also will "bring super premium content to customers." Sources said that the game "could also be streamed" on Yahoo if Verizon's purchase of the company closes in time. As part of the accord, Verizon will "sell all the national advertising in the game" (WSJ.com, 5/3).
FUN WITH NUMBERS? Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wonders "if there's fluff" in the reported price Verizon is paying for the one game. “If you're the NFL, you have an incentive to make these deals seem bigger than they are for a variety of reasons. ‘Hey, we're worried about ratings. Look how much people are paying to broadcast the games, they must be worth watching.’" He added, "Where's the harm in puffing up what we're getting? We actually help ourselves if we create the impression we're getting more than we're getting" ("PFT," NBCSN, 5/4).
