Right before the Super Bowl, the NFL’s biggest party of the year, the league is announcing a new online venture. NFL Now, a digital network that will deliver a “personalized stream of content” to fans, will launch this summer.
There won’t be any live action to be seen at NFL Now, at least not right away, but the site will be a bastion of game highlights and videos produced by the league’s 32 teams, the NFL Network, NFL.com, and NFL Films. Fans will be able to pick their favorite teams and/or fantasy football players and binge themselves on all things NFL. Press conferences, various live events, and original programming will also be available. NFL Now will also be mobile-ready, with a free app available for all Windows Phone, iOS, and Android devices.
“We are always looking for better ways to service our fans and NFL Now will do just that,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today in New York City’s Times Square.
Of course you knew there’d also be a way for the NFL to make even more cash out of the deal, right? NFL Now Plus will provide premium media and features for a monthly fee, though there’s no word yet on how much that will cost.
Verizon, Microsoft, Gillette and Yahoo have all signed on as launch partners for NFL Now. Verizon will use its LTE Multicast technology to stream videos to its users, and you can expect full integration on the Xbox One as well.
“NFL Now gives us the opportunity to utilize the one-to-one digital relationship to deliver our fans the most relevant content to them at the times and on the devices where they want to consume it,” said Brian Rolapp, the league’s executive vice president of media.
