CBS, NFL Extend Streaming Deal, Add Mobile Rights

By Daniel Holloway

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – CBS has reached an extension of its media-rights deal that will allow the network to stream games on mobile devices. The move follows similar agreements reached by the league and its other television partners, including Fox, as it adopts a broader mobile strategy beginning with the upcoming season.

The deal allows the network to stream Sunday games on CBS All Access to mobile devices as well as computers and connected TVs through 2022 — the length of the network’s current agreement to broadcast NFL games on linear TV. It includes CBS’ telecast next year of Super Bowl LIII.

“We’re very pleased to extend and expand our partnership with the NFL and give our viewers and CBS All Access subscribers the ability to stream NFL ON CBS games on mobile phones in addition to all other platforms for years to come,” said Marc DeBevoise, president and COO, CBS Interactive. “This deal enables us to deliver even more value to NFL fans, our subscribers and our distribution partners.”

Hans Schroeder, COO of NFL media and business, added,
“We are excited to extend our partnership with CBS as it aligns perfectly with our goal of providing NFL fans with greater opportunities to watch NFL games across digital devices. The 2018 season will mark a new era for NFL fans with unprecedented access to NFL games across digital platforms.”

Fox’s massive multi-year deal for “Thursday Night Football,” announced in January, includes mobile streaming rights. Fox and the NFL also recently finalized a deal that includes mobile rights for the network’s Sunday day games.

Under a previous agreement between the NFL and Verizon, the telecommunications company had been the exclusive mobile rights holder for the league’s games. That deal ended with the 2017 season. In December, the NFL and Verizon signed a lucrative new deal in which the latter agreed to pay more than $2 billion over five years to continue to stream games via mobile through Yahoo, Go90 and other portals in its portfolio. But with its new NFL deal, Verizon loses its exclusivity. Verizon’s will now be able to stream games from CBS and other networks through its apps.

The same month that it set its new Verizon agreement, the NFL extended media-rights deals with NBCUniversal and ESPN to allow those companies to stream “Sunday Night Football” and “Monday Night Football,” respectively, via mobile. The two companies already held non-mobile streaming rights to those franchises in addition to core linear television rights.