A Friday game during opening weekend of NFL season could air on YouTube for free, according to a course for The Athletic.
The game will be played at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil. We know that the Los Angeles Chargers will be playing and we’ll find out soon who they’ll be going up against, with the NFL planning to release its international game schedule on Tuesday and the full season schedule on Wednesday.
With the game taking place in Brazil, it’s important to note that the game will be free to stream globally on YouTube.
Last year, the game streamed on Peacock and was available on free, over-the-air broadcast television in the local markets of the competing teams – the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. The game drew 14.7 million viewers for the streamer.
Last month, Sports Business Journal reported that YouTube was a possible platform for the game, sharing that YouTube TV, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon had all shown interest in streaming rights.
Streaming the game for free on YouTube would further solidify a partnership between the Google-owned company and the NFL. YouTube TV has a seven-year contract for rights to Sunday Ticket, which began at the beginning of the 2023/24 season.
The league also has an 11-year Thursday Night Football deal with Amazon, along with broadcast deals with ESPN, NBC, Fox and CBS, which are worth $110 billion, according to The Athletic.
We’ll likely get more information during industry upfronts next week.