NFL Joins Youtube Ahead Of Super Bowl

27 Jan 2015 | sigadmin

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The National Football League and YouTube has announced a new partnership that will deliver NFL content to fans around the world through an official channel, launching this week ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Through the official NFL channel on YouTube – located at YouTube.com/NFL – this partnership will enable fans to engage with NFL video content on PCs, tablets, and mobile phones.

This deal represents the latest in a series of partnerships that the NFL has struck with digital platforms to increase the accessibility and consumption of its content globally.

Content posted to the NFL’s official channel on YouTube will include game previews, in-game highlights, post-game recaps as well as clips featuring news, analysis, fantasy football advice, and other select content from NFL Network and NFL.com.

Additionally, official NFL game highlights and content will be available through Google search, which will display official NFL video along with related news and information at the top of the search results. Kickoff time and broadcast information for every NFL game will also be prominently displayed in Google search.

The NFL finally joins the platform but is comparatively late to other sporting bodies in the US.

Basketball body the NBA joined YouTube in 2005 and now has more than 6m subscribers and 2.5bn video views on the service. Ice hockey body the NHL joined in 2006 and has more than 294m views, while baseball organisation MLB joined in 2005, and has nearly 237m views.

However, the NFL has an advanced wider digital strategy, with a suite of apps including one through which fans will be able to watch the Super Bowl live on their smartphones or tablets.

Hans Schroeder, senior vice president, media strategy, business development & sales for the NFL, said: “Partnering with YouTube and Google provides the NFL unique access to millions of highly engaged fans through the global leader in video and search.

“We continue to see an insatiable appetite for digital video content, and this partnership further expands fans’ ability to discover and access NFL content throughout the year.”

According to The Nielsen Company, the 2014 regular season reached 202.3 million unique viewers, representing 80% of all television homes and 68% of potential viewers in the U.S.