NFL reportedly planning ‘NFL Plus’ mobile streaming service

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The National Football League is working on its own subscription streaming service for mobile devices, according to a report in The Athletic. The league is said to have briefed teams on the project at its annual meeting of owners, which has been held over the past few days in Palm Beach, Florida. The Athletic says that presentations included slides with “NFL+” branding and a hypothetical $5-a-month price point.

The NFL Plus service would theoretically replace NFL Mobile, the NFL’s previous solution for distributing in-market games to phones and tablets. The NFL had a deal with Verizon and Yahoo to show some live games, but that partnership ended last year as the carrier spun off its content businesses. Verizon lost its mobile exclusivity in 2017.

NFL fans in many regions outside the US already have various streaming options across mobile and other devices. DAZN, for example, has the rights to every NFL game in countries including Canada and Japan. The NFL also operates a streaming service for international subscribers called Game Pass.

The Athletic report doesn’t say when the NFL Plus service might launch. It does note, however, that the NFL is going to need to find a solution for mobile streaming before the 2022 season kicks off in September.