Two sources familiar with the situation said that the NFL is planning to live-stream all three games scheduled to be played in London next season, and Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Google are "among the technology companies in talks to buy the rights to conduct the streams," according to Jessica Toonkel of REUTERS. Last year, the NFL partnered with Yahoo Inc. to live-stream a London game, "the first time a technology company has streamed a game for free to viewers." Winning a partnership with the NFL to live-stream one or all three games "would be a big victory for a technology company." If Apple or Google wins the rights to stream one or more games, "it would be a first for either company." The NFL wants to live-stream more London games after last year's streaming experiment "was deemed a success, according to sources." It is "unclear if the NFL seeks to sell the rights to stream all three games as a package or individually, or how much the league is asking for the rights." Representatives for the NFL, Apple and Google "declined to comment." Columbia University sports media professor Tom Richardson said that given the "big push by Google, Apple and other tech companies to build their presence in the media world, it is no surprise they would want to partner with the NFL." Richardson: "Professional sports content is among the most premium content you can find. If it happened in Hollywood, why wouldn't it happen with professional sports?" (REUTERS, 1/8).
