http://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-amazon-and-google-want-to-stream-nfl-games/?tag=nl.e539&s_cid=e539&ttag=e539&ftag=TRE17cfd61
Apple, Amazon and Google want to stream NFL games
The National Football League is looking to sell rights to stream Thursday night
games online. Big tech names Apple, Amazon, Google, and Verizon are expected to
try and purchase the rights, according to a report from Variety.
Rumor of the streaming deals come after the NFL announced on Monday a two-year
TV deal with CBS and NBC. Each network gained rights to stream five games. When
it announced the TV deal, the league said it's in "active discussions with
prospective digital partners" to stream some games. The league is reportedly
considering several scenarios to sell the streaming rights. It may pick
multiple companies for the deal and could also factor in overseas games to be
streamed.
Yahoo was the first to stream an NFL game online in October 2015. Yahoo claimed
the matchup, available for free, from London between the Buffalo Bills and the
Jacksonville Jaguars garnered 15.2 million unique viewers. The game between the
Bills and Jacksonville had an average viewership per minute of 2.36 million.
To compare, afternoon and evening NFL games on TV average 10 to 20 million
viewers per minute. It's not clear how beneficial a streaming deal would be for
the big tech giants.
It's worth noting CBS and NBC stream their games over the Internet to paid TV
subscribers, though an Internet streaming deal could give the Internet
generation -- and cord cutters -- a place to view the games.
