Traditional TV is dead (or maybe that’s a little bit of hyperbole, but it’s definitely not where the cool kids hang out). Streaming is where it’s at in the sports world, and the NFL gets it. They are leading the streaming revolution with partnerships with Disney’s ESPN+, Google’s YouTube TV, Amazon’s Prime, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock.
I consider myself a bit of an early adopter. Our family’s house cut the cord from cable about 2 years ago. I figured I could get by with an over-the-air HD antenna, but I quickly realized the signal was spotty and I was missing Thursday night games that aired on Amazon’s Prime starting last year. So looking at the options I went with Google’s YouTube TV which we signed up for and kept for the entire NFL season until the super bowl had aired in February, at which time we paused our subscription only to be renewed in August so we could again start with the NFL’s preseason games. And I’m hardly alone. Over the last year I’ve had dozens of conversations with friends and family who made a similar switch. And these big media companies get it. They might have been slow to acknowledge the change, but change they have. In many cases they are not only airing NFL games on traditional TV, but also on the various streaming services each media company owns and are promoting.
Like I said earlier, streaming is where it’s at, and that NFL is determined to lead from the front.
NFL games are shifting away from traditional TV. Are you ready to stream some football?