If you want to watch the Buffalo Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Oct. 25, all you’ll need is a laptop charger and an Internet connection.
The NFL announced in a press release Wednesday it has selected Yahoo! to deliver the league’s first-ever global live stream for Bills-Jaguars in Week 7. The Buffalo and Jacksonville markets still will air the 9:30 a.m. ET contest on local TV, but aside from that, Yahoo’s live stream will be the only way viewers can watch the game.
Yahoo! will provide its live stream free of charge, but the Internet giant reportedly paid at least $20 million to secure the partnership, according to Re/code’s Peter Kafka.
The landmark event will mark the first time an internet company has sole broadcasting rights of an NFL game.
“The NFL has always been committed to being at the forefront of media innovation,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Through this partnership with Yahoo — one of the world’s most recognizable digital brands — we are taking another important step in that direction as we continue to closely monitor the rapidly evolving digital media landscape.”
The league has taken a keen interest in growing the game through its International Series, and expanding into the digital market is a smart strategy to ensure its product is easily accessible to viewers around the globe.
The deal also is quite the catch for Yahoo!, which saw its stock skyrocket shortly after the partnership was announced.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/606114578360082432 align=’center’]
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
