DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NFL boldly going where it hasn't gone before with webcast-only game

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/03/23/bills-jaguars-regular-season-london-digital-platform

No U.S. professional sports organization has been more adept at finding money from its broadcast partners than the NFL, and now the league will boldly go where it has never gone before for a regular season broadcast: the Internet.

The NFL will live-stream next season's game between the Bills and Jaguars on Oct. 25 via webcast only. It marks the first time the league will use a distributor other than television or radio for a national game. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Monday, said the league is currently seeking a digital distributor (e.g. YouTube, Facebook). The game will not be available on DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket service, but will be broadcast locally on over-the-air networks in the home markets of Jacksonville and Buffalo, meaning viewers should expect a low-level CBS or Fox broadcast team to handle the production. The Bills-Jaguars will kickoff at 9:30 a.m. ET from London’s Wembley Stadium.

“This is a good opportunity to experiment,” said NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, in an email. “We will evaluate fan reaction and gather feedback and then determine if we would offer additional games like this in the future.”

NFL
Jaguars Bills London internet
Video
Bills-Jaguars game to be aired nationally on digital-only platform
by SI Wire
It would be shocking if this isn’t the beginning of an annual package (even limited) of regular season games available only via the web. “Most of the NFL games are tied up in long-term rights deals so although it’s a test pattern, it’s a really important one that can’t be understated,” said Jason Kint, the CEO of Digital Content Next and a former CBS Sports executive. “As with any content company, the NFL wants to have the largest marketplace available to compete for its product. The NFL is certainly making a statement that a digital-only model with the likes of a Google, Facebook, Xbox or maybe even ESPN, CBS All Access or any other OTT (over-the-top) international distributor is on the table. It completely opens up and ironically simplifies the rights for this game.

“The execution then becomes critical. The latency, video quality, ease in watching and engagement with the game are all critical. The simple fact with live sports is that so far when there is a TV available, it’s a much better experience on the biggest and most stable screen available rather than watching purely on a digital platform let alone mobile.”

Kint makes an excellent point about execution. Given its promotional might, the NFL will market the game enough to get a lot of digital curiosity seekers. So the quality of the experience will be critical. Kint suggested doing something unique during the broadcast that prompted viewer engagement. (Perhaps the NFL could create a one-off fantasy competition just for the game with real-time scoring and a big cash prize.)

Hans Schroeder, the NFL senior vice president of media strategy, business development and sales, told Sports Business Daily in February that the league believed the London game could serve as a test for long-term findings.

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“That 9:30 a.m. time slot is interesting internationally when you start to think of parts of Asia, where it reaches into Sunday night, as well as parts of Europe,” Schroeder said. “The one-off, over-the-top game is more of a test to see if digital companies can handle the large audiences that watch NFL games. We really want to figure out if the landscape is ready for digital-only distribution of a game. A lot of this is trying to anticipate, as the world changes, who our partners are going to be and who may be interested in NFL game rights when we look seven or eight years down the road, or potentially earlier, with Thursday Night Football. Is there nontraditional media who would be interested in those games?”

Expect the answer to be 'yes.' At the moment, NFL content is king and digital-only players will be watching this experiment closely.
THE NOISE REPORT

SI.com examines the week’s biggest sports media stories.

1. On Monday, the NFL announced its owners had approved a one-year suspension of the local blackout policy for the 2015 preseason and regular season games. The league said it will evaluate the impact of the suspension after the season. The proposal to suspend the policy came from the league’s Finance and Broadcast committees. The Bengals were the lone team to vote against the suspension.

It’s a long overdue change for a policy that began in 1973 as a way to encourage fans to buy tickets to games rather than watch them free on television. As noted by the New York Times, the decision comes after the Federal Communications Commission in September repealed its sport blackout rules, which prohibited cable and satellite operators from importing the signal of a game when it was blacked out locally. The league said the order eliminated FCC reinforcement of the league’s blackout policy, but it did not affect the league’s ability to maintain and enforce the blackout policy through contractual arrangements with programming distributors.

that should get some interesting responses.

I dunno how i feel about that,

However, i did like when i was stationed overseas, i could buy the NFL games on their site and not miss a browns game, because the BS military channels only played the popular games. IE. patriot and cowboys games.

Well, if they wind up with a package, available online, where a person can choose their team or teams, for a lesser price than that which DirecTV charges for their full Ticket, then maybe they have something ..... but I thought that the NFL just redid all of their TV contracts. This seems like it will be quite a way off as far as full implementation.

They already have it... It's called firstrowsports.com! lol

The NFL is just trying to turn that into money.

Illegal avenues aside, the NFL already has this, direct from their site. The only catch? You have to be outside the US to watch it. This is how I watched the games when the Browns weren't on in Columbus (and therefore I couldn't watch through my slingbox). Additionally, the xbox and probably other consoles, all had NFL apps that you could watch the games from. It looked good on my 52" TV. Quality will not be an issue.

It was like 10 euro for a week's pass. The whole season was like 129 euro. You could also buy a season pass for only your team's games for cheaper than that.

If they made this service available in the US (Won't happen for years) it won't be that cheap.

hmmm do I want to watch the game on a 19 inch screen in a office chair where I can not pause the game, rewind it or fast forward the ads. or record it. Or would I prefer to watch it on a 70 inch screen in high def, with surround sound while in my recliner or layed out on the couch while pausing it when i have to go to the bathroom, rewinding it if I want to watch something over, and over, and be able to re-watch the game over again in slow motion breaking down each player on each play.


Hey NFL shove your webcast where the sun dont shine if it means your going to not broadcast the games on TV

amen brother....

maybe with the 19 inch screen they can broadcast it in black and white and I can glue two knobs on my computer... flashback to 1950's... add a transistor radio and a fall out shelter... yeah baby

I don't know how to do it because I never have, but I believe one might be able to stream live TV through the internet into a large screen at home if that TV is internet ready.

I've no idea if that's really possible. I just thought I read that it is. It might have been a brain fart.

You'd need a device like Apple TV or Roku.

Thank you! I was pretty sure something could be done.

That would be a bit expensive for the one game, but if it catches on becoming the norm to be able to buy single games that would otherwise not be televised, it could make sense to upgrade the ole idiot box.

I'd like to point out to the NFL that anyone can get DirecTV (which we do have, along with Sunday Ticket), but not everyone has access to high-speed internet. I live a 15 minute drive from Athens and we can't get anything at our house except dial-up.

I'd be ticked off if it was a Browns game that they were experimenting with.

Streaming only=

1) Digital Only is the biggest issue. Being this is a trial I'm not too worried, but if they went that way, you really mess with a lot of people who don't have good broadband, and those that don't have setups to stream to their TVs, not to mention ticking off the satellite and cable companies.

2) Digital "Option" could be handy for those on the road a lot.

3) If it became a standard, I could see companies making set-top boxes that will run and stream web-based content much better than they currently do. Smart-TVs and set-top boxes have web browsing now, but in most cases is tedious to use, and many don't support good video formats from websites. If I stream I use my Tablet and Samsung Share, even that can get a little pixelated now and then and jumpy.

4) Curious what kind of infrastructure they would need to only digital stream the Superbowl. The internet would crash.

My Vizio TV has a web browser built in, and I added a wireless keyboard, so I can just pop up the browser and watch it in full screen mode, if I want to. I have watched movies on YouTube, and they're OK on my TV.

I see them going to route of WWE Network. I believe they will offer streaming only in the future. It really is the way it is going. I dont pay for cable, I have hulu and netflix. And I must say it is tremendous. I pay 16 bucks a month and see every show on TV and can stream HD quality sports as well via other "providers"

But you can pause/rewind/fast fwd the games with these broadcasts. You can also easily watch them on your big screen TV, and it will look great. They even offer you features beyond a typical broadcast.

I am on cable and have 3 smart TV's in my house but one dumb operator lol

This old dawg would have to learn some new tricks

The NFL reminds me of the fat kid in a candy store. Enough is never enough.

I dont think it is that. I really believe streaming is the way the nation is going. Cable companies are charging and arm and a leg for crap services, where you can stream for a fraction of the price and have just as good quality and service.

I think they are just trying to stay ahead and plan for the future, which a great business does. The advertisers will go where the NFL goes, so I do not believe they are worried about loosing anything in that sense.


Streaming really is as easy as turning on your tv and selecting what you want to watch. In fact, its easier to locate your shows than on cable.