The NFL made “history” during the 2023 playoffs, with the AFC Wild Card matchup between Kansas City and Miami being streamed on Peacock. Instead of one of the broadcast television partners — ABC/ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC — the final of the bunch put the playoff game on their streaming service. The viewership turned out fantastic, with nearly 23 million people tuning in.
Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the Peacock exclusive game to the first time leading into the Super Bowl. He says the NFL is attempting to keep up with the times and people are moving off cable in favor of streaming services.
“You have to back up a little bit and sort of understand where the media landscape is going,” Goodell said on Monday. “It’s changing faster and deeper. Consumers are moving off of paid television services and going into digital streaming services and platforms. And we, the NFL, have to be able to reach our fans there.
“One of the most positive things about the Peacock game was not just the fact that it outdrew the broadcast audience a year earlier in the same window. So people went there, experienced it. It worked technically in an incredible way and our partners at Peacock, NBC we give a lot of credit to them for that.”
More analytics go into the ratings than just the overall rating, though. Goodell mentioned how a younger auidance tuned into the action on Peacock. In an age where teenagers have used nothing but streaming services in their lives, it’s an opportunity the NFL took advantage of — attempting to draw in the younger crowd.
“It also reduced our average age of the audience by almost ten years,” Goodell said. “So youth audiences are going to those platforms and those apps and we have to make sure our content in there.”
The game itself wound up being a comfortable win for the Chiefs in a historically cold Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes, arguably the league’s top star, threw for 261 yards and a touchdown. His offensive partner in crime, Travis Kelce, caught seven passes for 71 yards to appease the Swifties.
NBC had one of the other AFC Wild Card games, with Houston taking down Cleveland. It reached nearly 29 million viewers despite potentially having less intrigue leading into the matchup.
Roger Goodell does not see Super Bowl being streamed in near future
With the Peacock exclusive game coming during the Wild Card game, people quickly began to wonder when the NFL would move the Super Bowl to a streaming service.
Goodell was directly asked the question but he quickly dismissed the idea — even with people trending toward the streaming platforms for their general television consumption.
“Certainly not in my time,” Goodell said. “I think its the reason why you’ll see over 200 million people watch this game here in the United States is because its on broadcast television, the broadest possible platform and credit to CBS, they’ve built a great platform for us.
“But there’s also a digital stream on Paramount Plus. And we want to support that because there are some fans that are watching on Paramount Plus — a lot. So I think its again we’ll see the Super Bowl continue to be on the broadcast platform. I think we’ll continue to see the NFL on the broadcast platform.”
Broadcast partners for the Super Bowl have been decided through 2034, with the previously four mentioned switching off with one another. ABC/ESPN, CBS, and NBC will all offer a streaming service as a viewing option but it will still be on broadcast television.
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