Over 110 million people will watch the Super Bowl on television on February 1st. 110 million people! That’s a lot! But for the other 205 million people that live in this country, NBC will also have you covered with a way to watch the game.
Once again, an NFL network partner will live stream the Super Bowl. But NBC is going the extra mile by not just streaming the game on Sunday night, but 11 consecutive hours of content on the day of the big game at NBC Sports Live Extra and NBC.com. And what’s more, NBC is doing it mainly to promote their TV Everywhere platforms, so you won’t even need a cable or satellite subscription to log in and watch. It’ll all be free on Super Bowl Sunday.
Here’s the announcement from NBC:
Following the launch of NBCUniversal’s first ever TV Everywhere consumer campaign titled “Watch TV Without The TV,” NBCUniversal is creating “Super Stream Sunday” on Feb. 1, providing consumers with an unprecedented ability to enjoy 11 continuous hours of NBC streaming content without having to log-in, designed as a way for consumers to trial NBC’s TV Everywhere content offering. “Super Stream Sunday” content will include NBC’s presentation of Super Bowl XLIX, Katy Perry headlining the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show, the Super Bowl XLIX pre- and post-game shows, and NBC’s post-game presentation of The Blacklist.
The special access event kicks off at noon ET with NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game coverage and concludes with The Blacklist, which follows post-game coverage at approximately 10 p.m. ET. Consumers accessing NBC Sports Live Extra and NBC.com during “Super Stream Sunday” will not be prompted to log-in with their cable/satellite/telco credentials; however, as part of this special access, they will receive consistent messaging in and around the experience about the ease in authenticating after the end of The Blacklist.
All Super Bowl content will be live streamed to desktops and tablets via NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Digital’s live streaming product. The Blacklist will also be streamed to desktops through NBC.com.
This isn’t the first time the Super Bowl is being streamed online, but it is unique that NBC will be streaming the entirety of Super Bowl Sunday, including the 97 hours of pregame coverage, the halftime show, and The Blacklist. Rejoice fans of James Spader!
It’s very interesting that NBC is using the event that is the Super Bowl to promote TV Everywhere and their live streaming platforms. NBC is giving all of this away for free – sports and entertainment – with no commitment or authentication just to get their TV Everywhere in front of as many people as possible. To see them not only commit the game to live streaming, but the lucrative primetime scripted series spot after the Super Bowl, is really telling for the expanding importance of TV Everywhere.
