Markets
Finally, a Las Vegas Super Bowl
What was long considered inconceivable will become reality this February: A Super Bowl in Sin City. Widespread legal sports betting in the U.S. and the Raiders’ move to the desert in 2020 has made Las Vegas one of the NFL’s most important markets. The city’s already hosted two Pro Bowls and the Draft, and now the full might of the NFL’s biggest event is coming.
Events
Black Friday game
The NFL’s entree into Thanksgiving Friday is just one game, but it’s a significant land grab for mind share and TV ratings — and, with a nine-figure price tag, comes with a sizable revenue boost. Amazon Prime Video believes it can drive e-commerce business, too, making it a major gambit for the league’s first exclusive streaming partner. With the Dolphins visiting the Jets, schedule makers ensured a big-market matchup between high-revenue teams.
Streaming
Sunday Ticket on YouTube
For the first time since the NFL launched its out-of-market package in the 1990s, it’s off satellite and now is on streaming. How exactly YouTube is marketing and pricing the product has been a topic of intense fan interest in the offseason. Also, streaming technology allows for more fan-friendly delivery of the games, and the extent to which it improves upon the much-criticized DirecTV user experience will be closely watched in its first year.
