NFL & NBC: Webcasts…Assemble!

Posted on July 28th, 2008. Written by Emmett Jones.

What’s next?  Brett Favre coming out of retirement?  Oh…wait. riiiiight. The NFL, yes the same NFL who attempted to block viewings of the Super Bowl at a church, will be working with NBC Sports to webcast 17 NFL games during the 2008 regular season.  More details from Paid Content,

NBC, which broadcasts “Sunday Night Football,” will make its TV feed—including Al Michaels’ play-by-play and John Madden’s commentary—available on websites run by both the network (NBCSports.com) and the league (NFL.com), reports LAT It will start with the NFL Kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 4, between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants.

NBC will sells the ads across the webcasts, and will share the revenues. Viewers will be able to choose from among at least four live camera angles and review stat updates in real time. NFL Network CEO Steve Bornstein called this a one-year experiment to figure out user habits, and any cannibalization effects.

Personally, I read this article and immediately thought of an inadvertent benefit for the NFL; NFL fantasy football.  What better way to market your fantasy football product, which I am assuming is still dwarfed by ESPN and Yahoo! Sports, than to offer live webcasts of games across the country for a fee to fantasy football fans…or even just fans in general?  Yes, right now Fox and CBS have exclusive deals to show NFL games on their networks, but who knows what the future holds?  What better way to expand the NFL brand, yes the NFL is trying to “globalize its brand“, all over the world than to allow LEGAL webcasts of NFL games on the internet?

…its going to happen at some point, its just a matter of when.

Sports Business Digest:  Brett Favre…hates the Green Bay Packers.

Paid Content:  NFL Opens Up a Bit:  To Webcast Sunday Games with NBC; Other Partners Wary

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