IP Democracy: NFL Jumps on the Web Video Bandwagon

The National Football League (NFL) will test the delivery of live football games online to selected Verizon high-speed customers Commissioner Roger Goodell said today at the Reuters Media Summit, marking the first time, I believe, that this major sports league will put its games online for U.S. consumption.

The NFL will offer in the coming weeks its Thursday and Saturday night games to Verizon’s FiOS high-speed customers, as well as customers who have signed up for Verizon’s high-speed services under the telco’s joint marketing pact with DirecTV. The NFL is testing the web service internally tomorrow starting with the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. If all goes well, the Verizon customers will get the games “in the coming weeks.”

The web service will ultimately be made available to all multichannel video providers that carry the NFL’s network and will offer special features such as audio from players and coaches and new camera angles on the game.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 29, 2006 9:21 PM to IP Democracy