NBCUniversal has agreed a landmark deal with the National Football League (NFL) to exclusively broadcast one wild card playoff game on its streaming platform Peacock.
The one-year deal is reportedly worth up to $110m, with the game being available for fans to stream on the Peacock platform on Saturday 13 January, 2024, during primetime.
This time slot also means NBC will become the first media company to present three NFL playoff games during a single weekend, with the Peacock exclusive wild card game following on from NBC’s broadcast of the afternoon wild card game at 4:30pm E.T.
This $110m deal marks a shift in NFL broadcasting as the one-off wild card game becomes the first exclusively streamed game for the league.
“We are thrilled to partner with the NFL on this industry milestone, bringing to Peacock the first ever exclusively live streamed NFL Playoff game,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman of NBC Sports.
“With America’s number one primetime show for a record 12 consecutive years, the terrific regular season SNF schedule revealed last week, and today’s announcement, we can’t wait for the 2023 season to kick off.”
Alongside the wild card exclusive game in January, Peacock will once again stream all NBC Sunday Night Football games for the regular season and playoffs, as well as the Football Night in America studio show.
Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NFL Media, commented: “We are excited to work with a great partner in Peacock to present the first-ever exclusively live streamed NFL playoff game this upcoming season.
“Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the League, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock’s streaming platform is the next step in that strategy.”
The landmark deal comes as NBC prepares to introduce new content for the 2023-24 NFL season, with Peacock also exclusively streaming the regular season game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers on 23 December.
“As Peacock continues to grow, nothing says ‘must-have’ programming more than live NFL games,” said Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock and Direct to Consumer at NBCUniversal.
“With the first-ever exclusive live streamed NFL Playoff game and our first exclusive regular season game, plus the entire season of Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America, and the Peacock Sunday Night Football Final postgame show, fans can stream the best of the NFL on Peacock all season long.”
