The NFL just announced a new deal with peacock that gives the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service the national broadcast rights to a wild-card playoff game next season. Described as the “first live-streamed exclusive NFL playoff game,” it will feature two teams meeting in primetime on January 13, 2024. The arrangement was first reported by The Wall Street Journalwhich cites sources saying the deal for this game is worth around $110 million.
Of course, we don’t know which two teams will be playing, but for fans without Peacock, your viewing options may depend on where you live. Along with a regular season game (Bills vs. Chargers on December 23, or as they know it, the game burn it all down) which will also be exclusive to Peacock, the game will air in those teams’ home markets on an NBC affiliate and on NFL Plus, the league’s subscription streaming platform made for phones and tablets, but not TVs.
Peacock’s exclusive Wild Card game and regular season game will air on NBC stations in the two cities of the competing teams, and will be available on mobile with NFL+. The NFL is the only sports league to present every regular season and postseason game on free-to-air television in local markets.
According to the wsjWhen the league struck new broadcast deals in 2021, it reserved the rights to one playoff game per season, and this deal with NBCUniversal is for the 2023 postseason only. NFL Media executive Hans Schroeder told the outlet. that it’s “likely” that for years to come, the game will continue to stream on its own, which could attract bids to put it on platforms including Peacock again, Viacom-owned Paramount Plus, Disney’s streaming ESPN Plus, or Fox’s Tubi.
Disclosure: Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, the edgeparent company of .
