The NFL has signed a 5-year deal with Verizon (VZ), valued at $500 million/year, that enables the telecom giant to stream in-market and nationally televised league games (and access to on-demand content) to any mobile device, Oath owned web property (i.e. Yahoo (AABA), Yahoo Sports, AOL, Go90) or connected TV nationwide; regardless of carrier, beginning in January. The new deal provides VZ with the ability to sell select in-game ad spots, but does not include the exclusivity it enjoys under the terms of the expiring contract (4 years, $250 million/year). DirecTV (T) owns the rights to stream out-of-market games through the 2022 season.
Howie Long-Short: Verizon acquired Yahoo! earlier this year for $4.5 billion, combining its media and technology assets with AOL’s (which it acquired for $4.4 billion in 2015) to form Oath; a company with 50+ brands (which also include the Huffington Post, TechCrunch and others) and a reach of over 200 million monthly unique users in the U.S. VZ sees the NFL as valuable content it can spread across Oath platforms (more valuable than the exclusivity), with Brian Angiolet, Global Chief Media and Content Officer calling football “the marquee sport” to drive an audience. He’s right and that by a mile. The NFL is averaging 15.1 million viewers/game this season; the ’17 NBA playoffs on ESPN/ABC (1st Round – Conference Finals) averaged just 4.26 million.
Fan Marino: Verizon customers have had the ability to stream NFL games on smartphones since 2010, but the remainder of the league’s fans have been blacked-out while on-the-go. Revoking Verizon’s exclusivity will result in broader availability and ultimately increased viewership for the league; but it’s the fans who win biggest with this deal. Fanatics will never again miss a minute of game action, while the casual cord-cutting fan can continue to follow the league and his/her home team.
Verizon to pay NFL $500 million a year to stream games
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