Just last season the NFL finally created their own YouTube channel, putting content like in-game highlights, game previews and analysis on the Google-owned, video-sharing site. Now, a year after making the initial partnership with the platform, the NFL is ramping up their relationship with YouTube.
The NFL announced that they will be making available some of each team’s most exciting games in NFL history. So, for all 32 teams there will be a corresponding three games that will showcase the most storied games of the past.
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Additionally, the deal provides some perks to the parent company of YouTube, Google. Fans who use Google to search for an NFL team in the middle of a game will instantly be provided with NFL content such as in-game video highlights, kickoff time and broadcaster information.
While this deal is not the most monumental for NFL Media and YouTube, it highlights a trend within NFL Media that is important to monitor. While NFL Media’s Vice President of Communications, Alex Riethmiller, told us in December that NFL Media’s focus is still solely on their in-house production, NFL Media is continuing to push the boundaries of placing their content on different platforms.
A couple of months ago, Twitter won the streaming rights for 10 Thursday Night Football games in this upcoming NFL season. The NFL has also continued to increase their level of content on high performing digital platforms like Snapchat, who they struck a deal with prior to the start of last season.
As platforms that host NFL content, like YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat, continue to grow, the NFL will surely begin to make more deals with the hosting party. Today, the news is about past games on YouTube, but in a few years it would not be surprising to see YouTube streaming every live game in a season.