The NFL has been airing games on TV for ages, and the top ratings roundups at the end of each year will often have football games peppered throughout. People love football. And people also really love streaming now, so you’d think that the NFL would have been a pioneer in utilizing the Internet to get games to viewers. Beyond a few exceptions, though, that’s not been the case, but CBS might be looking to change that up in the future.
While there are some websites that do air live sports, it’s not as commonplace as one would think, and the subscription service CBS All Access is lacking all things pigskin. But CBS CEO Les Moonves thinks that there will be a time, perhaps sooner than later, that subscribers will be able to log on to the site and app and watch weekly games just as they would on their TVs. Speaking at the 2015 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference this week, Moonves had this to say, according to Home Media Magazine.
As you can see, the NFL is doing more and more online. They are experimenting more and more. We are in constant conversation with them. They’re looking for an answer for their digital needs. And they’re exploring along with us. We are guardedly optimistic. We think that before too long we will have the NFL there, which [would be] a game changer.
Indeed, the past few months have brought more NFL-on-the-net news than ever before, with Yahoo! first announcing it would be streaming the October 25 match-up in London between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then CBS announced it would also stream a London game, this one between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins on October 4, as well as the Thanksgiving Day broadcast of the game between the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys, and then Super Bowl 50, all for free. Then Fox blew everybody out of the water by announcing Fox Sports Go will be streaming 104 total games in the 2015-2016 season, which will include one Wild Card game, one Playoff game, and the NFC Championship. You’ll need proof of a pay-TV subscription for those, though.
Moonves clearly needs some kind of similar approach to Fox’s in getting a massive chunk of NFL games for CBS All Access. To be sure, the service doesn’t necessarily need it, as CBS is arguably the most popular network on TV, so its fanbase is built-in and unwavering. But that would certainly get more subscribers that are more into football than Big Bang Theory and Blue Bloods. Something tells me the network would end up needing to bump the subscription fee up from its current $5.99 standing, but that might be worth it if they bring enough live content.
