NFL media boss sheds more light on NFL+ streamer

The chief media and business officer of the NFL has provided more details on the sports league’s upcoming standalone streaming service.

In a column for Sports Illustrated, Brian Rolapp said that the streamer – which was confirmed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this month – will offer live mobile streaming of matches along with a range of other content available as a subscription. 

He wrote: “NFL+ was born out of our belief that to better serve our current fans and help grow new ones, we need to increasingly meet fans where they are. NFL+, a subscription video service housed inside of the NFL app, will do just that.

“NFL+ will provide fans access to live local and national NFL games on mobile devices, live out-of-market preseason games across all devices, live local and national audio for every game, NFL Network shows on-demand, NFL Films archives and more—providing football flexibility so fans never have to miss football again.”

The upcoming season will also see Amazon offer Thursday Night Football for the first time on Prime Video, with Rolapp describing this as “the next step in TNF’s evolution”. Amazon-owned Twitch will also offer an ‘Altcast’, where fans can watch Thursday Night Football games with their favourite Twitch co-streamers

The biggest question mark over the league right now is who will win the coveted Sunday Ticket rights, with ESPN+, Prime Video and Apple TV+ all currently in the running. Rolapp did not comment on this, but gestured towards a wider revolution in the sport towards metaverse, social media and data in its broadcast coverage. 

“Technology has changed everything about how we consume the NFL content we love. There is so much more to watch, read and listen to than ever before, all made possible by the technology in our pockets and the wireless internet around us,” he said.