Apple among possible partners for streaming Thursday NFL games

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The National Football League is considering Apple among several potential partners for streaming Thursday matches, a report said on Wednesday.




The league has reached out not just to Apple but to Amazon, Google, and Yahoo, according to SportsBusiness Daily. Companies agreeing to the idea would be streaming on a non-exclusive basis, and the NFL's tentative plans are said to call for a simulcast of TV productions, including identical advertising.

It's not clear what form an Apple deal would take, particularly since the company's plans for an over-the-top TV service have been put on hold. While Apple could conceivably build a specific streaming option into iTunes or an iOS or Apple TV update, the NFL will presumably want to direct traffic to apps of its own wherever possible.

The NFL has been gradually adopting a more digital-friendly strategy. Next year's Super Bowl, for instance, will be viewable for free online.

Sports are often thought to be one of the few things keeping people tethered to traditional cable and satellite packages, which can often cost $100 per month or more. Another issue though is bandwidth, since many American homes are either speed-limited or hampered by data caps from Internet providers like Comcast.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Due to some unfortunate Cablecard issues I've recently watched some TV on my iPhone 6s Plus: not the worst experience. Which surprised me.

    So I'm more open to the concept: and phones have the advantage that for in real time viewing, which is a real plus for sports, the phone is always available so when the game starts it's going to be right there. The same can't be said for the giant flat screen back home....
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  • Reply 2 of 10
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,182member
    IIRC, Dish had an exclusive agreement for games outside of the Thursday games (that the NFL kept as an exclusive to sell the NFL channel.) and that are not offered via the traditional networks or cable deals. So Thursday games yes, but beyond that is speculative. I would be attracted to live sports on a PPV basis. $.99/game would be fair, and likely generate interest.
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  • Reply 3 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Pay TV in the form of cable and satellite has been declining for years. Viewers are switching to broadcast TV and streaming services. Earlier today, I learned that viewers streaming services now equal the number of cable and satellite subscribers.

    The NFL has a very popular product that it wants to extract more money out of. If the NFL wants more money, then it must follow the money. The money is leaving satellite and cable. Whether it can exploit streaming services remain to be seen. However, streaming is the only new money game in town.
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  • Reply 4 of 10
    wsmwsm Posts: 1member
    Streaming live sports on TVs over an open unmanaged data connection may look good on phones and tablets, but it will not offer users with 60 inch flat screens the kind of experience that would make them or the NFL happy, Have you ever watched Monday Night Football on Sling TV, my experience was awful!  I would speculate this approach to offer TNF to the digital tech giants is a ploy by the NFL to drive up the price. At the end of the day over the air networks will still be the best choice to put a quality product on the consumers HD flat  screens. 
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  • Reply 5 of 10
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    mr. me said:
    Pay TV in the form of cable and satellite has been declining for years. Viewers are switching to broadcast TV and streaming services. Earlier today, I learned that viewers streaming services now equal the number of cable and satellite subscribers.

    The NFL has a very popular product that it wants to extract more money out of. If the NFL wants more money, then it must follow the money. The money is leaving satellite and cable. Whether it can exploit streaming services remain to be seen. However, streaming is the only new money game in town.
    Most NFL games are broadcast OTA. Only the lone games played on Monday and Thursday nights are broadcast via cable channels, and if one of the local teams is playing it will also be broadcast by one of the local networks. The NFL is well insulated from the cord cutters. 
    edited December 2015
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  • Reply 6 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    dasanman69 said:
    mr. me said:
    Pay TV in the form of cable and satellite has been declining for years. Viewers are switching to broadcast TV and streaming services. Earlier today, I learned that viewers streaming services now equal the number of cable and satellite subscribers.

    The NFL has a very popular product that it wants to extract more money out of. If the NFL wants more money, then it must follow the money. The money is leaving satellite and cable. Whether it can exploit streaming services remain to be seen. However, streaming is the only new money game in town.
    Most NFL games are broadcast OTA. Only the lone games played on Monday and Thursday nights are broadcast via cable channels, and if one of the local teams is playing it will also be broadcast by one of the local networks. The NFL is well insulated from the cord cutters. 
    If this made any sense at all, then the NFL's problem could be easily solved. All it has to do is to drop the ESPN contract for Monday Night Football. Fold the NFL Network and move all of the Thursday Night Football games to CBS or another OTA broadcast network or networks. For some reason, the NFL has not done this. I wonder why.

    Well, it might be because young people are moving away from TV as we have known it all together. They watch TV on their computers and mobile devices. They have led the dramatic growth in streaming services. As I said in my last post, streaming services now have as many viewers as cable and satellite providers. Going forward, streaming services can be expected to surpass the traditional pay TV services.

    Streaming TV is not where the puck will be; it is where the puck is. The NFL is skating to where the puck is.
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  • Reply 7 of 10
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member
    So will the Super Bowl be streamed on the NFL app on ATV for FREE in 2016?!
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  • Reply 8 of 10
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    libertyforall said:
    So will the Super Bowl be streamed on the NFL app on ATV for FREE in 2016?!
    The last time was probably the NFL checking interest.
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  • Reply 9 of 10
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    mr. me said:
    dasanman69 said:
    Most NFL games are broadcast OTA. Only the lone games played on Monday and Thursday nights are broadcast via cable channels, and if one of the local teams is playing it will also be broadcast by one of the local networks. The NFL is well insulated from the cord cutters. 
    If this made any sense at all, then the NFL's problem could be easily solved. All it has to do is to drop the ESPN contract for Monday Night Football. Fold the NFL Network and move all of the Thursday Night Football games to CBS or another OTA broadcast network or networks. For some reason, the NFL has not done this. I wonder why.

    Well, it might be because young people are moving away from TV as we have known it all together. They watch TV on their computers and mobile devices. They have led the dramatic growth in streaming services. As I said in my last post, streaming services now have as many viewers as cable and satellite providers. Going forward, streaming services can be expected to surpass the traditional pay TV services.

    Streaming TV is not where the puck will be; it is where the puck is. The NFL is skating to where the puck is.
    Because they're making massive amounts of money with the NFL Network. 
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    dasanman69 said:
    mr. me said:
    If this made any sense at all, then the NFL's problem could be easily solved. All it has to do is to drop the ESPN contract for Monday Night Football. Fold the NFL Network and move all of the Thursday Night Football games to CBS or another OTA broadcast network or networks. For some reason, the NFL has not done this. I wonder why.

    Well, it might be because young people are moving away from TV as we have known it all together. They watch TV on their computers and mobile devices. They have led the dramatic growth in streaming services. As I said in my last post, streaming services now have as many viewers as cable and satellite providers. Going forward, streaming services can be expected to surpass the traditional pay TV services.

    Streaming TV is not where the puck will be; it is where the puck is. The NFL is skating to where the puck is.
    Because they're making massive amounts of money with the NFL Network. 
    Do you have any evidence to support this assertion?
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