NFL teams could start selling preseason games to streamers, per report

Preseason NFL games are the only inventory individual franchises are able to sell on their own, outside of the league’s national packages for the regular season and postseason.

Typically, these games are sold to local broadcast affiliates. But there’s a new plan being proposed to owners next week that would allow teams to sell preseason games to streamers, according to a report by Ben Fischer in Sports Business Journal. The streamers would then broadcast games locally, similar to region-specific streams in other sports, like purchasing Milwaukee Brewers games from Brewers.TV.

Per Fischer, the proposal is seen as “marginal but intriguing” for teams. When sold to local affiliates, preseason games “tend to be priced in the low millions,” the report reads, though the biggest franchises earn more. Selling these games to streamers could allow teams to earn some incremental revenue.

Separately, the proposal would allow teams to “buy the right from the NFL to distribute their preseason games beyond their home markets.” Currently, teams are only permitted to sell preseason games within their local markets. NFL Network broadcasts select preseason games to a national audience, while each of the NFL’s four television partners typically broadcast one preseason game as a tune-up for the regular season.

It seems possible that the league could approve the sale of preseason games to streamers on an in-market basis, but hold off on allowing teams to sell on a national basis.

In addition to the preseason inventory, the proposal would potentially allow teams to sell “nongame productions, like coaches’ shows” to streamers. It’s unclear if this provision would also include locally produced pregame and postgame shows, which could potentially undermine the NFL’s national broadcast partners.

At the end of the day, these are preseason games. But it’s some of the only inventory teams control independently from the league, and teams want to maximize revenue.