Twitter wins bid to stream Thursday night NFL games this season
Twitter has won the right to stream Thursday night NFL games this season, giving fans another medium to watch the sport online.
Yahoo became the first ever free global NFL live stream when it broadcast a game last October in London between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills. This year’s Thursday package will allow Twitter to reach a new market and feed directly into its platform, where fans otherwise would go to discuss the games they typically watch on television.
Bloomberg first reported the news, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (in his first tweet in 577 days, for what it’s worth) confirmed it Tuesday morning.
Guess Goodell will be more active on Twitter now that they — we assume — dropped a boatload of cash on the NFL to win the bid for these rights. Money likely was the bottom line in the deal, but Twitter CFO Anthony Noto held the same title in the NFL previously, and the two companies worked together on a deal last year to distribute highlight clips on the website and app.
Thursday night games, which have been broadcast on CBS and NFL Network the past few seasons, have seen lower ratings than other Sunday or prime-time games on television.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
