NFL Rumors: Streaming Service Under Development, Was Discussed at Owners Meetings

The NFL is reportedly ready to try its hand at the streaming game.

According to The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan, the league is "developing a subscription streaming service that would include games, radio, podcasts and team content."

The new service is tentatively called NFL Plus, per Kaplan. 

The NFL's prior deals to stream games to fans for free via Yahoo and other services have expired, and the league's NFL Sunday Ticket deal with DirecTV is scheduled to end after the 2022 season. 

Per Kaplan's report, finding replacements for those two services alongside "potentially selling a stake in NFL Media, which include NFL Network and NFL.com," is one of "three major media deals percolating."

"It makes perfect sense that the NFL would be exploring the development of a streaming channel, much like they developed platforms for cable and satellite when each was cutting-edge media technology," sports media consultant Lee Berke told Kaplan. "That noted, any streaming launch could tie into the NFL's negotiations to potentially sell a portion of NFL Media to a technology partner like Apple or Amazon."

One team president told Kaplan that any decision on moving forward with NFL Plus won't happen until May when owners could vote on the potential streaming service. But per that report, the NFL "needs a solution to how games are distributed via mobile, tablets and laptops by the upcoming season."

Berke believes Apple or Amazon could have a role to play in NFL Plus if either purchases some of NFL Media. It remains unclear whether the NFL's three pillars of its streaming services will be packaged together to prospective buyers or sold off separately. 

"It's hard for me to see how any one mobile NFL Plus system replaces the economics from Verizon/Yahoo," sports media consultant Patrick Crakes told Kaplan. "The big question is whether the NFL is suggesting this to get Verizon (previously the exclusive mobile streamer of in-market games) to pay more. I don't think the NFL has a lot of bidders for this package."