Amid news that the NFL might consider renegotiating its current set of media rights agreements as early as next year, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is simultaneously opening the door for another major change: a Super Bowl on streaming.
Speaking with Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, the NFL commissioner said “anything is possible” when prompted about a potential streaming-only Super Bowl in the 2030s.
“With a changing media landscape, the way it changes as fast as it changes,” Goodell said, “it’s certainly possible.”
Frankly, it’s only a matter of time. The transition from traditional broadcast viewing to streaming is well underway and only accelerating by the year. The NFL’s North Star has always been putting its games on the platforms with the widest reach. At some point, those platforms will be streaming services. The question is not if, but when.
“If you look at our history, our history has always been (to) be on the biggest platforms,” Goodell said. “Network television was after many years. Eventually we moved into cable with ESPN as ESPN continued to grow… then satellite. Obviously, now streaming.
“And the NFL has been a part of every one of those periods where I think our content has actually helped accelerate successfully those platforms. That’s what we want to continue to do, and streaming is clearly that.”
The NFL is now in its fourth year of having a streaming-exclusive package, Amazon’s Thursday Night Football, which has successfully grown to match the audiences that previously watched the package on linear television. No doubt, the success of Thursday Night Football has been encouraging for the NFL as it looks to expand its streaming offerings.
And given where the industry is headed, it’d almost be surprising if there wasn’t a streaming-only Super Bowl before 2040. By that point, the reach will be there, the technology and infrastructure won’t be questions, and fans might actually prefer a streaming Super Bowl to archaic linear television.
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.