On September 28, Amazon will live-stream the first of 11 NFL “Thursday Night Football” games to its Prime Video members in over 200 countries and territories (excluding China). The last game, between Pittsburgh and Houston, will live-stream on Christmas Day. The event marks the beginning of an era in which technology titans, including Google and Facebook, vie with traditional broadcasters for the rights to major sports deals. The sports leagues are drawn to the global reach of the major technology companies. Continue reading Amazon’s NFL Deal Creates New Paradigm for Sports Rights

Short video ads are common on Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms, whereas 15-second and 30-second ads dominate on broadcast TV. Fox Sports is now bringing the six-second TV commercial to NFL games and other programming. After testing it during its August broadcast of the Teen Choice Awards, Fox now hopes to make the six-second ad an industry standard. The reason is that the younger demographic, more accustomed to abbreviated video ads on social media, is pushing back against broadcast TV’s long ad breaks. Continue reading Fox Sports Plans to Air Six-Second Ads During NFL Games

Facebook is bringing football to its social media platform: not NFL games, but rather 15 college football games whose exclusive rights are owned by Stadium, a 24/7 digital sports broadcaster. Stadium will produce customized programs for Facebook that will not be shown elsewhere, either online or on broadcast television. In sports, Facebook has streamed some NBA and MLB games and signed a deal with Fox Sports to stream some Champions League soccer matches, but the Stadium deal is the company’s first exclusive sports deal. Continue reading Facebook to Stream College Football in First Exclusive Deal

The National Football League and China’s Tencent Holdings have signed a deal to give the latter exclusive rights to livestream games and other NFL content online for three years. Tencent will stream the games and other content for free on its flagship social media app, WeChat, as well as other mobile and desktop platforms. WeChat has more than 960 million monthly active users. The NFL first made a move into China in 2009 when it produced a 16-episode reality TV series in which a Taiwanese pop band explored football culture. Continue reading Tencent Signs Deal With NFL to Livestream Games in China

Electronic Arts and the National Football League now offer an eSports tournament aimed at the casual user in the living room. Dubbed the Madden NFL Club Championship, the competition is open to players of all skill levels aged 16 or older in North America, the U.K. and Germany, and is based on a pilot program held last spring. It’s also linked to the debut of “Madden NFL 18,” Electronic Art’s newest installment of the annual football game franchise, which has sold more than 100 million units around the world since its 1980s debut. Continue reading Electronic Arts, NFL Create Tournament for Casual Gamers

ESPN has introduced MultiCast, a feature for its App for Apple TV’s tvOS that allows viewers to watch up to four simultaneous live streams from the network’s 60,000+ hours of annual programming and more than 30 live events on any given day. The network is also debuting version 5.10 of its iOS and Android app with a “Watch” tab allowing viewers to watch live-streaming events and shows featuring their favorite teams. The new version also offers ESPN3 replays, adding to the current long-form video and on-demand highlights. Continue reading ESPN Introduces Four-Screen Live Viewing to Apple TV App

Rival fantasy-sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel planned to merge last November, but that plan has now been nixed. In their statements about the cancellation of the merger, neither company mentioned the fact that the Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust suit against the merger, but, in statements, the companies’ chief executives noted that the lawsuit would add cost, time and distractions to the proposed union. The companies both offer daily games that allow users to assemble virtual teams of real athletes. Continue reading DraftKings, FanDuel Cancel Merger In Face of FTC Lawsuit

Amazon revealed to Reuters that it will charge advertisers $2.8 million for 30-second commercials during the NFL Thursday Night Football games it will stream live to Prime customers this upcoming season. Amazon is paying the NFL $50 million to stream the season’s 10 games, the company’s first major push into live sports. In addition to Amazon Prime streaming, the games will also be available on either CBS or NBC, each of which are airing five games. Last season, Twitter paid $10 million to stream Thursday night NFL games. Continue reading Amazon Prices NFL Thursday 30-Second Spot at $2.8 Million

Intel has inked a partnership with the International Olympic Committee through 2024 to showcase its virtual reality, 360-degree video, artificial intelligence and drone technologies. Intel has already been using its VR and other technologies for baseball, basketball and football games, and the deal could help heighten its profile in sports. An internal group started exploring deals last fall. Because TV ratings for the Olympics have been falling, a technology sponsor could help the Games reach a younger demographic. Continue reading Intel to Sponsor Olympics, Showcase VR, AI and Drone Tech

Walmart plans to use virtual reality at its 200 employee training centers. It’s not the only business gravitating to virtual reality, as an increasing number of companies, in industries as diverse as construction to medicine, find that customized 360-degree video is an effective, less expensive and often safer way to teach employees. Walmart, which tested VR in 31 centers, now plans to use it as a key part of training for 140,000 employees annually. As a result, shipments of VR/AR headsets are on track to skyrocket. Continue reading Business, Sports, Medicine Embrace Virtual Reality Training

Twitter has announced its latest live streaming partnership. Marking the first time the company has teamed up with the BBC for streaming video, the deal will focus on the BBC’s U.K. election coverage. “The deal specifically involves five BBC election specials, including debates and election night results, among others,” reports TechCrunch. “The video coverage will be available in the Twitter application on both mobile and web, and will include live tweets that reference related hashtags.” Twitter previously “partnered with Bloomberg to live stream the [U.S.] presidential debates ahead of the November 2016 election.” Twitter already has live streaming deals with BuzzFeed, Live Nation, Viacom, sports leagues and others. Continue reading Twitter and BBC Team to Live-Stream U.K. Election Specials

Twitter updated its Apple TV app this week, adding support for Periscope’s Global Map and the option of viewing live 360-degree videos. Apple TV owners can now “use the Siri remote to move around the video to view its content from different angles,” reports TechCrunch. Twitter’s TV applications are also available on Fire TV, Roku and Xbox One, with the intent of featuring Twitter’s live video shows, “including those from the WNBA, BuzzFeed, Viacom, Live Nation, and others.” In addition to Twitter’s new premium video, user-generated content is regularly streamed through tweets and the Periscope app. Continue reading Twitter Debuts First Apple TV App to Support Live 360 Video

Verizon’s $4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo’s Internet business is likely to close in mid-June, at which point the combination of Yahoo and AOL (with its 1.3 billion users) could serve as the “platform … to test out an over-the-top service,” according to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. The OTT offering “would be in addition to the telco’s go90 ad-supported mobile video service,” reports Variety. “Verizon has reportedly been mulling an Internet-delivered skinny bundle offering, akin to AT&T’s DirecTV Now and Dish Network’s Sling TV.” Continue reading Verizon May Use Yahoo-AOL to Test New OTT Video Service

After losing the Thursday Night Football deal to Amazon this time around, Twitter announced it now has plans to stream year-round football programming. Through a new multi-year agreement, Twitter will stream official NFL video and related content all year, in addition to a live half-hour digital show to air five nights a week during the season. The new show, hosted by talent from the NFL Network, will feature news, highlights, projections, rankings and more. Live pre-game content will offer fans behind-the-scenes access including warm-ups and interviews via Periscope. Continue reading Twitter Signs Deal for Streaming NFL-Related Video Content

Snap Inc. just inked a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive (which owns the Cooking Channel, DIY Network, Food Network, Travel Channel, HGTV and others) with plans to produce original versions of hit shows such as “House Hunters” and “Chopped.” The new deal is the latest among media companies aiming to reach Snapchat’s youthful demographics with original shows. ABC, A+E Networks, BBC, Discovery, ESPN, NBCUniversal, the NFL, MGM, Turner and Vice Media are among those that already have original show deals with Snap. Continue reading Scripps Interactive Is Latest to Sign a Content Deal With Snap