NFL to stream free online football
p2pnet news view | Games:- The National Football League figures there’s mucho value in the online rights to its games.
And it’s decided to use (you guessed it) the Net to prove the point.
It and NBC Sports say they plan to stream 17 regular-season games, mostly Sunday night matchups, “the first time the league has widely distributed complete games live on the Internet in the U.S.,” says the Wall Street Journal.
“The deal, which kicks off with the season opener on Thursday, Sept. 4, is the biggest step so far by the NFL to wring some value out of the Web,” it states, going on :
“But it is a tentative step, covering only games that air on NBC, excluding the NFL’s 239 other games that air on other networks, including CBS, Fox and ESPN, during the regular season. Nor does it include the league’s playoffs or the Super Bowl, which will air on NBC next year.
It’s an experiment, say the two.
They, “hope to prove they can lure new viewers and people who are already watching at home by adding interactive elements,” says the story, adding:
“Several major sports organizations already allow some live games to be shown on the Web. CBS Sports has streamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s March Madness basketball tournament. At the Olympics next month, NBC is streaming 25 out of 34 events online. And Major League Baseball has its own Web site, MLB.com, that has created a lucrative business selling subscriptions to MLB.tv, which streams out-of-market games.
“The NFL has been slower to embrace the Internet, largely because its national broadcasting contracts with four networks and DirecTV Group Inc. bring in more than $3.7 billion a year, according to people close to the league and networks, far more than revenue other leagues earn. Its Web site, NFL.com, until now has offered an exhaustive supply of information and statistics but it hasn’t streamed complete games online for broad U.S. viewing. It does sell subscriptions to streaming of the games to people overseas.”
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.Stumble It!
Wall Street Journal – NFL, NBC Plan Kickoff of Free Football on Internet, July 26, 2008
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July 28th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
My guess is that it will be limited to US residents only, forcing us American footbal fans outside of the US to use a proxy….Oh well, at least we can always go to Ten Yard Torrents for most of the games anyways.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Just another reason why those folks working on the streaming video torrent technology are much appreciated.
December 21st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
This is a good thing for us fans./Cool widgets at statbeast.com. Check it.