Verizon will pay a pretty penny for the rights to live-stream a single NFL game next season across the globe — with the telco forking over a premium because the matchup won’t be on broadcast on national TV in the U.S.
Verizon is paying the league $21 million for rights to the Sept. 24 regular-season game between the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars, which will be played at London’s Wembley Stadium. The Wall Street Journal first reported the price tag. The telco will stream the game live across its portfolio of video platforms including AOL, Fios TV, Go90 and Complex.com.
The deal is similar to the one struck between the NFL and Yahoo for a game in the fall of 2015, also played in London, for which the internet company paid $15 million. That also was not distributed on a national TV network.
Last month, Amazon signed a deal with the NFL for worldwide streaming rights to “Thursday Night Football,” grabbing the 11-game package from Twitter, which had the “TNF” games last season. Amazon’s deal is worth $50 million, according to reports. Unlike with the Verizon deal, the “Thursday Night Football” games will air nationally on NBC and CBS.
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“Verizon will be the NFL’s exclusive digital partner to deliver the live stream of the Week 3 International Series game in London to a global audience,” the NFL said in a statement.
The London matchup also will be available on the NFL Mobile app to Verizon Wireless customers, and the NFL app on Xbox One and Windows 10. There will be only limited TV access: In the U.S., it will be available through local TV broadcasts in the Baltimore and Jacksonville local markets, and it will be carried in the U.K. on Sky Sports.
