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NFL considers starting its own streaming service

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

NFL considers starting its own streaming service

If someone owned the rights to the word "plus," they would be currently very rich, plus.
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

theathletic.com

NFL considers creating a streaming service of its own

NFL Plus would include games, radio, podcasts and team content. Owners will likely vote on the plan in May.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Note this is in the planning stages for now.

There is Apple TV Plus, Paramount Plus and Disney Plus, not to mention scores of streaming services without the plus in their monikers. And perhaps coming soon could be the latest entrant, NFL Plus.

The NFL is developing a subscription streaming service that would include games, radio, podcasts and team content. Teams were briefed on the development at the annual NFL owners’ meetings occurring in Palm Beach, Fla.

The NFL has distributed live games for free through mobile devices and on Yahoo for tablets and laptops, but these deals have expired. In the future, it appears if fans on the go want to stream games on their phone and they don’t have a cable subscription, they will need to pay for what is tentatively called NFL Plus.
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An NBC Sports article on the subject of NFL+ makes two interesting points, one about streaming services in general and one about this particular proposed streaming service.

If someone owned the rights to the word “plus,” they would be currently very rich, plus.
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Thankfully, no one does. MSG+, a regional sports network in the New York metropolitan area, has existed long before all those streaming services that end with a plus symbol.

Without live regular-season games, would there be enough content to justify the product?
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So, what would NFL+ offer to the casual fans during the six months when there are no live games? As the article points out, plenty of information about the NFL can be found elsewhere. Therefore, a monthly subscription plan would not work. I mean, think of the many people who canceled their Disney+ subscriptions when The Mandalorian ended its second season. For this service to make money, the NFL would need to require an annual membership.
 
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The problem is can they develop an online streaming service that will show all the games with PBP and color commentators who are not going to drive viewers off the platform and back to broadcast or cable offerings AND reap more money than they are going to lose when the TV and radio broadcasting rights revenue dries up into dust.

If you are Fox, laying out a ton of money for the rights over several years, paying big dollars to PBP and other on camera staff, the logistical issues, camera and sound folks, production trucks, uplink costs, etc etc etc..... and you are PAYING the NFL for the privilege on top of all your other costs, and you find yourself going head to head competing with a similar product produced by the NFL..... first thing you are going to look at is reducing the payments to the NFL because they have reduced your ability to sell spots to nationwide advertisers based on the number of P1 viewers who have defected to the streaming platform.

Then you are going to look at how to cut costs, starting with studio, PBP, color commentators and sideline reporters.... a lot of Jenny Dell's are going to find themselves unemployed if CBS or any other network sees the revenue drop... and the broadcast networks and cable networks might say screw it, we can't operate at a loss, or are unwilling to operate at a loss for the "prestige" of airing NFL games when the NFL is cutting our throats.

Then the local affiliates are going to be very unhappy competing against a NFL product.....
 
I think that NFL+, like ESPN+, would blackout games in markets in which their respective local teams participate. For example, a resident of the Philadelphia metropolitan area would never see an Eagles game on NFL+ due to the blackout. They would have to watch whichever over-the-air network is airing the game in their market.
 
Marcos_C said:
So, what would NFL+ offer to the casual fans during the six months when there are no live games?
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Most likely, the same thing my MLB.TV subscription offers me -- access to old games. That's something I hardly ever do, having other sports interests besides baseball, but it's never bothered me that I might never use the subscription in December. I find live baseball from March through September sufficient value for my $120 "annual" subscription fee. Of course, I'm far from a "casual" baseball fan; I like to watch as many games as I can, not just those of my favorite team. The casual NFL fan might have a problem shelling out for NFL+, true, but the bigger question is whether the casual fan would have any interest in paying for the service at all.
 
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