In the wake of the College Football Playoff Megacast that worked out well for the most part, Fox and the NFL are going to provide viewers with an added feature for the NFC Championship later today. Along with the regular game feed with announcers, sideline reporters, ads and other features, Fox and the NFL are providing a live streaming feed at both Fox Sports Go and NFL.com which will have natural sound with no announcers.
Called “NFL Field Pass,” it will be available free of charge to anyone without having to authenticate. According to the NFL this is what will viewers will see online:
Video will be presented with no host/analyst audio, allowing fans to hear the natural sounds along with the sights from the field just prior to game time. Viewers will be able to experience pregame with sights and sounds previously unique to the in-stadium experience including:
- Crowd reaction as players take the field
- Coaches meeting with players on the field before the game
- Offensive and defensive drills – including throwing and catching
- Pregame player huddles
So viewers to this particular feed will not be bombarded with Fox promos, announcer banter or sideline reports. We’ll see if this leads to the NFL signing off on its partners providing alternate feeds for various games including the Super Bowl. Perhaps we might not see a Super Bowl megacast this season, but this shows that the NFL might be open to the concept down the road.
