Peacock to exclusively stream NFL wild-card playoff game in January

NFL fans who prefer to watch playoff games at home may need to give a streaming platform a try this January. 

The NFL and NBCUniversal announced Monday that the NBC streaming service Peacock will be the exclusive national home for a prime-time wild-card playoff game on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. That game will occur after NBC and Peacock broadcast an afternoon wild-card contest. 

According to Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing, a Peacock subscription will be needed to watch the exclusive playoff game via the service. 

Those with unreliable Internet or individuals who have declined to use Peacock may not necessarily have to utilize the service on Jan. 13. The official NFL release noted Monday that the wild-card game and also the Peacock exclusive regular-season matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 23 will air on free over-the-air NBC stations in the competing cities.

"We are thrilled to partner with the NFL on this industry milestone, bringing to Peacock the first ever exclusively live-streamed NFL Playoff game," NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said for the release. "As Peacock continues to grow, nothing says 'must-have' programming more than live NFL games. With the regular-season schedule revealed last week and today's announcement, we can't wait for the 2023 season to kick off."

Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith added that "NBCUniversal is reportedly (h/t Wall Street Journal) paying about $110M to the NFL for the rights to show one game on Peacock exclusively" as the league embraces streaming more and more with each year. 

The "NFL Sunday Ticket" out-of-market package is moving to YouTube TV starting this coming season, and Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for national "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts and for the first-ever Black Friday NFL game. 

NBCUniversal's agreement for the playoff game is a one-year deal, but there's little reason to believe the first time a postseason contest airs exclusively on a streaming platform and behind a paywall will be the last time.