NBCUniversal Acquires Mobile-Streaming Rights to Sunday Night Football

The stream on NBCU properties will include national and local-affiliate advertising

NBCUniversal has acquired rights from the NFL to stream Sunday Night Football through NBC’s TV Everywhere offering on all mobile devices beginning with the 2018 season. The agreement also allows NBCU to extend those authenticated streaming rights to its cable, satellite, and telco partners, as well as to virtual MVPDs.

Although NBC Sports Digital has been streaming Sunday Night Football to desktops, tablets, and connected TVs for years, the 2018 season will mark the first time it will have rights to stream to mobile phones. As part of this expanded distribution, NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football mobile stream available on NBCU’s own properties will include national advertising and local-affiliate advertising for the first time. The reach of national ads, which will continue to be sold exclusively by NBCUniversal, will be further extended by passing through to Verizon and NFL mobile platforms, per Verizon’s agreement with the NFL that was announced last week.

“This is an exciting day for NBC Sports. We have been streaming Sunday Night Football on numerous platforms since 2008, but, as a result of this agreement, 2018 will be the first time we can stream primetime television’s No. 1 show on all digital platforms, creating a more seamless viewing experience for NFL fans,” says Rick Cordella, EVP/GM, digital media, NBC Sports Group. “In addition to fans, this mobile agreement benefits our distribution partners, local affiliates, and advertisers, as it significantly extends SNF’s digital reach.”

NBCUniversal is the only media company with two NFL primetime packages. It currently broadcasts and streams Sunday Night Football, primetime television’s No. 1 show, and Thursday Night Football, primetime television’s No. 2 show, as well as preseason and postseason games.

On Feb. 4, 2018, NBC Sports will broadcast and stream Super Bowl LII.