Network giant CBS announced its plan to live-stream, for the first time, two regular seasons of the NFL games. It will also live stream from the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California four playoff games and the Super Bowl 50. The live streaming will be for free and will be available on different platforms which will include laptops, desktops and tablets at CBSSports.com, including devices which can be connected to TV like Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Roku Players and Roku TVs. Moreover, streaming services can be availed by Verizon customers on phones via NFL Mobile.
An additional good news is that the games will be streamed in real time. It will also not require the usual authentication from users, hence there is no need for them to use their account information from a cable or satellite TV provider. This also signifies that the NFL games can be seen by people who don't pay for television using traditional means. Many TV viewers now use things such as digital antennas to capture signals for free TV airing, or use other streaming services provided by Netflix or Amazon, rather than pay for cable TV packages.
Live streaming of the games will start with the nationwide broadcast of the New York Jets-Miami Dolphins game on October 4th at 9:30 AM ET.
Another first in this CBS offer will be the broadcast and streaming of the Thanksgiving games, Carolina-Dallas game on November 26th, 4:30 PM ET. This is seen as a remarkable step in the move to make NFL games more widely accessible to people who opt to forego their cable television subscription.
Moreover, the network has announced that all coverage of AFC playoff will be streamed once more this year, with the Wild Card, Divisional and Championship games included. The Super Bowl stream, on the other hand, will be aired on February 7th, Sunday.
The 2015 season will not be the first time that a regular season game has been made available via online streaming as Fox Sports offered last year the 101 NFL games, using its tablet app and website last year, although it will be the first time that streaming of the match-ups will be made free for everyone. CBS and Fox have the NFL rights locked up until 2022 so games will not be available on YouTube yet. So long as these networks continue to experiment on digital distribution, then it can be expected that more regular season games will be available online in the next few years.
