Not even the NFL’s highly consumed postseason is safe anymore from encroachment by subscription streaming.
On Monday, NBCUniversal announced Peacock will host the NFL’s very first exclusively live-streamed playoff game, with the second of two AFC Wild Card games licensed by NBCU on January 13 presented in primetime only on the subscription streaming platform.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the announcement came after NBCU signed a $110 million deal with the NFL to secure the live streaming rights to just one postseason game.
That 8 p.m. ET Saturday game will actually be one of three AFC Wild Card games presented by NBCU that weekend, with the media company simulcasting on NBC and Peacock a 4:30 p.m. afternoon game on Saturday, January 13, while also showing a third AFC Wild Card contest on Sunday, January 14.
The other two Wild Card games on linear broadcast are part of an 11-year deal NBCU signed with the NFL two years ago.
Notably, the addition of the streaming exclusive also makes Jan. 13-14 the first time one media company has ever shown three NFL playoff games on a single weekend.
Earlier, NBCU announced that it's also putting a December 23 regular season game between two serious AFC 2022 postseason contenders, the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills, exclusively on Peacock.
The NFL was undoubtedly pleased with the youth-demo performance of Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football exclusive live streams last fall. The aggregate TNF audience was down more than 40% from the previous year’s levels (partly due to a bummer game schedule), but Amazon delivered more younger viewers than the league had seen in about a decade.
“Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the league, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock’s streaming platform is the next step in that strategy,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive VP and chief operating officer of NFL Media, said.
As for NBCU, it finally has paid-user traction for Peacock, and there is probably no better signup draw than live sports. NBC, after all, regularly generates the biggest audience in broadcast TV primetime with the NFL’s Sunday Night Football package.
“As Peacock continues to grow, nothing says ‘must-have’ programming more than live NFL games,” Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock and direct-to-consumer for NBCUniversal, said.
