Verizon and NFL plot love match for profit
Two giant American brands each needing some good news jumped into each other’s arm on Monday — hoping the hookup could jump-start better times.
Verizon and the NFL announced a new and expanded mobile-streaming deal that would allow the wireless company to offer national and in-market games on a wider variety of devices.
Terms of the five-year deal were not disclosed but were estimated in several reports at $400 million a year.
Under the deal, which begins with the upcoming NFL playoffs, Verizon will lose exclusive mobile-streaming rights. Customers of other carriers can access the football games through Verizon’s Yahoo Sports, AOL and go90 apps and through the NFL Mobile app as well.
Verizon has been under attack for failing to keep pace with rival AT&T, which last year agreed to an $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner as a strategy to meet future content needs.
The NFL, meanwhile, has been facing TV-viewership declines for three consecutive seasons — a ratings shortfall often blamed on oversaturation.
Verizon claimed its partnership with the NFL “will bring an entirely new and diverse generation of fans to the game.”
But even NFL data suggest the streaming of football on the telecom’s platforms and apps — from Yahoo and Yahoo Sports to go90 and NFL Mobile — may not deliver the millions of millennials the partnership seeks.