The 2015 NFL on Yahoo logo.

15.2 million unique viewers tuned in to Yahoo!’s live-steam of the Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars game from London in October. The 33.6 million total streams is believed to make it the most-streamed event in U.S. history and would have measured among the top ten programs on television that week. Not only did it perform well in the United State but one-third of the viewership also came from outside of the U.S., making it an ideal opportunity to spread NFL game viewership worldwide.

Naturally, the NFL wants to do it again. This time, however, they want to live-stream all three of their planned London games in 2016. They also want to see if they can find an even bigger audience by partnering with bigger companies.

The National Football League is planning to live-stream all three games scheduled to be played in London next season, and Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc subsidiary Google are among the technology companies in talks to buy the rights to conduct the streams, said two sources familiar with the situation.

If Apple were to win the rights, the games could be broadcast via Apple TV. If Google gets it, they’ll be able to broadcast the game live on YouTube.

It’s not clear at this point whether the NFL will package the games as a trio or if they’ll ration them out piecemeal to see how each media partner does. The games in question are the October 2nd contest between the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Giants vs. the St Louis Rams on Oct. 23 and the October 20 game between the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals.

The NFL was already in discussions with Yahoo! and other streaming services about potentially live-streaming Thursday Night Football.

[Reuters]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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