YouTube is reportedly the favorite to land a four-game package of NFL regular-season games the league retained via its recent equity agreement with ESPN.
According to a report from Austin Karp and Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, YouTube is the “early leader” to land the four games ESPN returned to the NFL as part of the recently approved deal that sees ESPN take ownership of NFL Network in exchange for the NFL taking a 10% equity stake in the network.
Per SBJ, several other parties remain interested in the package. The four available games are likely to have a short shelf life. Last week, Puck’s sports correspondent John Ourand reported that the four games will likely be included in a 15-game slate split equally between three streamers — YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video — when the NFL reworks its media rights deals in the coming seasons. As such, it would seem likely that any four-game package sold for the upcoming season would be done so on a one-year basis.
The four games won’t necessarily comprise only international games. The league is scheduled to contest nine games overseas next year, most of which will reportedly land on NFL Network. The four-game package might include a mix of international contests and late-season games that have previously aired on Peacock or ESPN+.
YouTube aired its first exclusive NFL game last season, a Friday night game in Week 1 from Brazil. 18.5 million viewers in the United States tuned in to watch the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs. An additional 1.1 million viewers watched from abroad.
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.