(Bloomberg) — The National Football League has launched its own streaming service, betting that the growing number of cable TV cord-cutters will pay to watch certain games on mobile devices.
NFL+, which debuts Monday, costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. In addition to live games, it features shows from the NFL Network and archives of NFL Films. A premium version of the service, which includes commercial-free replays of games, costs $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year.
The NFL remains by far the most popular programming in all of television. After viewership declined two years ago, its regular season audience rose 10% last year to an average 17.1 million per game, its highest mark since 2015.
But it’s a challenging time to launch a new streaming service. The highest US inflation in four decades is squeezing household budgets and forcing some to scale back entertainment spending. At the same time, NFL+ will compete with a wide array of sports-focused streaming services, including some that also show NFL games.
Verizon Communications Inc. had owned the rights to broadcast NFL games on phones and tablets until it revised its deal with the league last year. The NFL’s new streaming service combines those mobile rights with a subscription product called NFL Game Pass, which will no longer be available to US subscribers as a standalone product.
The NFL has carved up its media rights in a dizzying number of ways. That has helped the league generate more revenue and reach young fans who don’t have cable. But it’s also created a fragmented media landscape where fans must sort out which games appear on which app, on which device and in which market.
For example, NFL+ will show regular season and postseason games. But subscribers can only watch games in prime time and Sunday matchups that normally air in their local TV market. And they need to be watching those games on a phone or tablet.
NFL+ could appeal to cord-cutters who can’t see Sunday games on CBS or Fox because they don’t subscribe to cable TV or don’t have another way to watch local channels.
Meanwhile, the league is looking for a new owner for NFL Sunday Ticket. Those rights, which are currently held by DirecTV, let subscribers watch NFL games outside their home market on Sundays.
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