The NFL could be in for a streaming ratings bonanza, as the league is set to partner with a web video giant for its Sept. 5 Brazil game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Per reports from The Athletic and Front Office Sports, the NFL is closing in on a deal with YouTube, an entity that on a monthly basis sees more than 2.5 billion people utilize its service.
When paired with the Chiefs’ status as the NFL’s top draw for viewers, the expectation is that the audience for this game could challenge the league’s current record-holder for streaming audience, last Christmas’ Ravens-Texans game that had an average of 24.3 million U.S. viewers on Netflix.
The Google-owned YouTube carries NFL Sunday Ticket, the league’s distribution platform for out-of-region NFL games and its popular NFL RedZone channel that whips around from game to game, focusing on teams in scoring position.
YouTube, like other streamers, does not have the production in-house to be able to put on an NFL broadcast, so production agreements will have to be ironed out for the regular-season opener.
Still, the move represents a continued prioritization on streaming for the league, which has aired games with regularity on such streaming partners as Amazon, Netflix and Peacock, the latter of which broadcast last year’s Brazil contest, a 34-29 Philadelphia Eagles win over the Green Bay Packers.
