Video-sharing service YouTube, social media platform Twitter and e-commerce and media company Amazon are all in contention for the digital streaming rights package being marketed by American football league the NFL for its Thursday Night Football property, according to multiple reports.
The Bloomberg news agency said the three parties are all weighing up bids for the rights, with Amazon being the most recent holder of the package.
The Fox Sports division of US network Fox last month signed a five-season deal for television and digital rights to Thursday Night Football, with the agreement to run from the 2018 season to 2022.
Bloomberg said Amazon bid for the rights in the initial round, but is yet to decide whether to bid for the digital streaming package due to changes in the NFL’s proposal requests.
Speaking at the Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, California last week, YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki said she’d “love to stream” the NFL but declined to comment on ongoing talks. Twitter has refused to comment on its interest.
The Fox agreement sees Thursday Night Football move to a new home in the US on a long-term basis. The CBS and NBC networks had held the rights to the package for the past two seasons.
January’s announcement also allows Fox Sports and the NFL to each expand its digital rights, enabling the network to distribute both Thursday Night Football and its Sunday games to Fox subscribers over a wide array of digital platforms including mobile phones for the first time. The agreement also allows the NFL to further develop digital distribution models for Thursday Night Football as well as Fox’s Sunday games.
The NFL issued a request for proposal concerning its Thursday Night Football rights package in December, with the document reportedly outlining that a contract could be solely sealed by an online streaming provider for the first time.
The 2017 season saw Amazon become a Thursday Night Football partner for the first time. The Amazon Prime service served as the NFL’s exclusive partner to deliver a live OTT digital stream of Thursday Night Football to a global audience across devices during the 2017 season.
Amazon Prime Video streamed the 10 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by the NBC and CBS networks, which were also simulcast on NFL Network, once again securing the league's tri-cast model of broadcast (NBC/CBS), cable (NFL Network), and digital (Amazon Prime Video) distribution.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last month stated that digital rights for the 2018 season will be concluded in partnership with Fox, adding that the league has seen “unprecedented competition” in this area.