Danny Moloshok/AP
The first week of the upcoming NFL season will feature a game broadcast exclusively on YouTube for the first time in the league’s history.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported the news of the game Tuesday. The league has reportedly chosen the Sept. 5 game in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Los Angeles Chargers had already been confirmed for the game, and their opponent was set to be announced May 14 during the league’s full schedule release.
“YouTube will exclusively stream the Friday night Week 1 game of the 2025 NFL season in São Paulo, Brazil on Sept. 5 to a worldwide audience on YouTube and YouTube TV,” Schefter said in a tweet. “This marks the first exclusive NFL game to be streamed live and for free in its entirety on YouTube.”
Streaming platforms have continued to encroach on the territory of traditional cable networks in recent years. In the 2023, the NFL had its first streaming-exclusive playoff game. The next season, Netflix was given exclusive rights to the league’s Christmas games. It’s also been reported that Netflix is even looking to take afternoon games from Fox and CBS in the league’s next media rights deal.
Arguably the biggest shake-up, however, came in the NBA. As part of the NBA’s new media deal, Amazon was given a broadcasting package beginning with the 2025. Rounding out the deal were ESPN/ABC and NBC — which will make games available on Peacock in addition to its cable network. The inclusion of Amazon and NBC pushed out TNT.
The post The NFL Will Broadcast Its First-Ever YouTube-Exclusive Game as Prominence of Streaming Platforms Grows first appeared on Mediaite.
