All of the NFL’s efforts to expand digital access to its games seem to be paying off. Through week four of the 2018 season, consumption of NFL games on digital was up 65 percent from 2017, with an average audience per minute of 326,000 viewers per game across all platforms, according to a report published this week by the league.
For last Thursday’s Minnesota Vikings-Los Angeles Rams game, digital streaming across Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, NFL digital platforms, FOX Sports digital platforms, and Yahoo Sports produced an average audience per minute of 816,000 viewers. That marks an 86 percent increase over the 2017 10-game Thursday Night Football average, and the highest ever for a Thursday night game.
According to the league, growth is being driven by streaming on phones and connected TVs, where the average audience has grown 147 percent and 54 percent, respectively, compared with 2017.
“We’ve always been based on a reach model by airing games [on over-the-air network TV],” said Kevin LaForce, the NFL’s senior vice president for media strategy and business development, in a statement. “That is a core tenant of our media philosophy for decades. However, with digital and the shift in consumption in the market place, we want to make sure fans have access to as much of our content as possible, especially the live games. There is an expectation of fans getting their content where they want it, when they want it. We have to provide that for them.”
The NFL attributes much of its success in this realm to its focus on providing a high-quality streaming experience. NFL Media’s Culver City, Calif. headquarters is staffed with nearly 100 people on game days who are tasked with making sure all of the digital streams are running smoothly.
“If there are any issues, we’re literally able to rectify them within minutes,” said David Jurenka, the NFL’s senior vice president for digital media.
NFL Media’s workload has expanded significantly this season as the league has widened access to games across a number of digital properties. Prior to this season, mobile access was limited via an exclusive contract to Verizon Wireless customers. Tablet access typically required a pay-TV subscription. Now, all primetime games and Sunday afternoon local games can be viewed on any mobile device via the NFL app or Verizon’s media properties without requiring a payment or login. This, of course, comes on top of streaming options offered by the TV networks themselves.
Jurenka said he was surprised to find not only how many people logged on to watch a game from mobile, but also how much of the game they were consuming. It seems NFL players aren’t just tuning in via mobile to catch the score or to watch it in transit, but rather staying logged-in for a large chunk of games, if not their entirety.
“The overall consumption was significant,” he said. “The duration numbers are similar to what you would see for traditional TV viewers.”
Looking ahead, the NFL hinted that it might look to take a page out of Amazon’s playbook, which has enhanced its Thursday Night Football streams this season with data overlays on both Prime Video and Twitch that provide users with access to real-time stats and in-play games. LaForce said the NFL is looking to add innovative new features to make the games “even more engaging.”