Report: NFL will split four games from ESPN between YouTube and Netflix
As part of the deal that gave ESPN control over NFL Network and that gave the NFL 10 percent of ESPN, the league absorbed the four games that had been part of the now-abandoned Monday night doubleheaders. Alex Sherman of CNBC, via Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing , reports that the games will be split between Netflix and YouTube. The news comes amid a recent FOS report that YouTube is negotiating a five-game package with the NFL.
That arrangement flows from a request for proposal the NFL made to broadcasters earlier this year, with a menu of potential games from which the companies could choose five for bidding. The overall possibilities for the games to be diverted to streamers include the Week 1 49ers-Rams contest in Australia, the expected Thanksgiving Eve game, and a second Black Friday game. As the NFL looks for more potential standalone windows, anything is possible.
Everything is possible. The streamers prefer big events, whether they are existing dates on the NFL schedule or created from scratch. For example, with Veterans Day (November 11) landing on a Wednesday this year, why not play a game that night?
It's the kind of thinking the NFL will be applying to the potential spots on the calendar that cry out for a standalone game. Especially if a streamer will pay a significant premium for the privilege of televising it.