Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) will join traditional portals such as Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) in a bid to stream NFL games. The effort to bring fans online is in its infancy, so none of the companies racing to secure rights to the games may be successful.
Facebook is breaking its silence on its newfound interest in signing up content partners ranging from individual celebrities to sports leagues like the NFL to dramatically pump up the amount of live video pulsing over its platform.
In an interview Monday with Variety, Dan Rose, Facebook’s VP of partnerships, confirmed the social-media giant is in discussions with the NFL about securing rights to live-stream games and has reached out to Hollywood agents to bring actors, athletes, music artists and others into its live-streaming fold.
The article said Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) are also interested, which makes the number of companies that can afford the programs crowded.
What remains to be seen is whether consumers will move away from their TV sets and the well-known analysts and commentators who are such a big part of current NFL broadcasts. If any of the companies doing the streaming are successful enough, perhaps they will offer employment contracts to the likes of Phil Simms.
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