NFL Launches Specialized Streaming Platform

NFL+ offers live game coverage for $4.99 a month.

NFL+ offers game coverage for $4.99 a month.

Following suit with other companies and brands establishing their own streaming services, NFL has launched a streaming service of its own today, NFL+. A subscription to the service costs $4.99 monthly or $39.99 yearly, and offers live access to local and primetime postseason games. Additionally, subscribers will get access to out-of-market preseason games, a feature that was previously only available to the subscribers of the $100-a-year NFL Game Pass service.

There are two catches to this. Firstly, subscribers can’t watch regular season games on NFL+, at least not at launch. NFL is planning on monitoring viewership habits of the service for a brief time, and if it becomes clear that customers want regular game coverage, they will provide it. Secondly, at launch, NFL+ is only available on mobile and tablet devices, with no app available on streaming boxes or smart TVs.

“It’s another option we’ll consider with all of our other options,” Hans Schroeder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media, said in a statement. “We are really excited about where NFL+ can go. As quickly as media and the sports distribution business continues to change and evolve, there are lots of different factors.”