Report: Facebook, Amazon Among Tech Giants Interested In Streaming Thursday NFL Games

Image courtesy of ken fager

If the news that Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and YouTube are all reportedly interested in streaming Thursday night NFL games sounds familiar, that’s because these same rumors swirled last year.

Twitter wound up buying the rights for $10 million last season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will edge out its competition this year: Recode cites two sources familiar with the matter who say all four companies are interested in streaming Thursday games.

None of those companies nor the NFL responded to their request for comment. There could be others vying for the rights as well, Recode notes.

The NFL is expected to choose the winner within the next month, and could possibly inform league owners of that decision as early as next week at its annual meeting in Phoenix.

Whoever does win the streaming rights won’t have an exclusive deal, of course, as sports fans will still be able to stream the games on NBC, CBS, or NFL Network — all of which also pay for digital rights — on their own over-the-top services. Verizon also has mobile streaming access, though its streaming policy has confused some viewers in the past.

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