The NFL is officially headed to YouTube in Week 1.
The league and Google announced on Tuesday that the Los Angeles Chargers’ game scheduled for the Friday of Week 1 in São Paulo, Brazil will stream on YouTube for free. It’s the first time YouTube will ever broadcast an exclusive NFL game. Of course, the mega-streamer has held the NFL Sunday Ticket package since 2023.
But as a first-time broadcaster, YouTube doesn’t have the infrastructure to produce its own broadcast like Fox or Amazon or ESPN would. Instead, similar to how Netflix conducted its Christmas Day broadcasts last season, YouTube will need to bring in the professionals.
Enter: NBC.
According to Andrew Marchand and Jenna West of The Athletic, NBC will produce YouTube’s one-off game. It’s unclear if YouTube will use NBC’s on-air talent as well. Last year, when Netflix aired its Christmas games, the streamer used a hodgepodge of talent from different networks to fill its cast.
NBC has experience producing games for other entities already. The network has a long-term partnership with Prime Video and its behind-the-scenes crew helped kick-start Thursday Night Football for Amazon’s streaming service a few years back.
The NFL’s full schedule is revealed on Wednesday, and it is widely anticipated that the Kansas City Chiefs will be the Chargers’ opponent down in Brazil.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.