Jay “Sports Fanatic” GreesonThe NFL subtly announced this week that later this year it will partner with Yahoo to stream a regular-season game on the Internet. For free.
Quite plainly, this could be the biggest sports development in recent memory and could change sports completely.
Seriously.
And in typical NFL fashion, the league simply slides it into an announcement package as the buzz feeds offer details about LeSean McCoy saying a coach who traded a black running back and replaced him with a black running back was racist. Or that Adrian Peterson is “glad to be back.”
The NFL has perfected its slight-of hand-tactics, a corporate-level rope-a-dope that would make Muhammad Ali smile.
When off-the-field issues happen, there is talk of adding more games. If concussions become a talking point, hey, there could be a team in Los Angeles by 2016.
And when things get really serious, well, commissioner Roger Goodell breaks the glass case on his office wall and pulls out the latest version of the league’s plan to change the extra point.
The NFL has emerged as the biggest thing in sports and pop culture for a multitude of reasons.
It has embraced the gambling angles. It has helped to craft the best minor-league system in sports with big-time college football.
And most importantly, it has embraced and even been out front of all of the technological developments to make watching games a better viewing experience.
To that end, the announcement that the NFL will work with Yahoo and stream an NFL game live and for free Oct. 25 could be the game-changer.
In the last few years, Goodell has said the NFL has plans of tripling its $8 billion revenue in the next 12 years. It seems hard to fathom that the league has a high enough ceiling to generate $25 billion annually under the current model. The league already has the richest TV contracts and stadiums are already full, even though the NFL is the top-rated show on five networks. Yes, five – ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS and the NFL Network.
So the league will need to change the model.
One path could be expansion. Take the product to more cities and potentially more countries.
Another could be part of online streaming, and that could lead to more expansion, at least in expanding the interest.
If the NFL makes $8 billion primarily from U.S. interest, then going global could triple its expansion rather quickly.
There already are more and more online viewing options and those who prefer them. Some sporting events are available online – ESPN3 is a familiar notion to Mocs fans; the MLB Network offers it – but not on this scale and not for something this popular.
Consider the worldwide audience – especially Americans around the world – who could access Yahoo rather than one of the traditional TV channels.
Yes, the Internet has altered almost everything, but the real game-changer is the portals on which these games now can be watched. Tablets and phones with crystal-clear pictures that offer mobility beyond a desktop offer digital expansion that is limitless.
The NFL is out front of it, starting this year.
To triple its revenue, the NFL will have to go global. It will have to have another way to generate revenue. Offering global advertisers – Coke, Apple, you name it – the chance to reach a captive and passionate audience from Hixson to Helsinki and from Dayton to New Dehli would be very attractive.
It also could be quite pricey. Consider how that captive audience would be coveted by advertisers. Plus, if the league provides la carte games – rather than the limited reach of Sunday Ticket on Direct TV – for a small fee, it will be the biggest sports league in the world that is the most powerful entertainment entity on television selling advertising and collecting online broadcasting fees.
Wow.
Now, if they only could fix that extra point thing.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp. His sports columns are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays; his A2 columns are scheduled for Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You can read his online column, “5-at-10,” Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m.