Watching live sports is about to get more complicated

Watching this upcoming NFL season is about to be like the end of a long, yet noncommunicative situationship – complicated.

Last week, Netflix announced a deal that will see the streamer exclusively broadcasting two NFL games in 2024. Which brings the total number of subscriptions fans need to watch all the league’s games this season to seven: a cable or YouTube TV subscription plus Sunday Ticket, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+, NFL+, and, of course, Netflix.

The cost for all that? $1,600+/year.

Streamers are increasingly turning to sports to drive subscriptions and maximize revenue. Live sports still draws massive audiences – especially the NFL, which accounted for 93 of the 100 most-watched broadcasts last year. And streamers are working to leverage these eyeballs into consistent revenue.

• Peacock became the first platform to exclusively host an NFL playoff game, a matchup between the Chiefs and Dolphins, on January 13 of this year. The game required a paid subscription to watch (no free trial), and drove three million new signups to Peacock – with 71% of these users remaining subscribers through the end of February 2024.

It’s not just the NFL… For the past 21 years, the NBA has had just two TV partners: ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT. But, as Bob Dylan said, the times they are a’changin. Analysts widely expect the league to select more distributors for its next media-rights deal, which is currently in negotiation.