NFL's Streaming Offensive Makes It Easier To Watch

Courtesy of Streaming Observer

This season, NFL fans have more options than in the past to stream local and primetime games on their phones and other Net-connected devices, reports USAToday.

That strategy could be a move to tackle declining NFL ratings and a growing audience of viewers without traditional pay TV. While down, NFL games still are among the most-watched TV broadcasts.

"They are trying to reach every possible viewer, partially because of ratings and partially because there are simply more ways to watch now," said Phil Swann, publisher of TheTVAnswerman.com, a TV news site.

For starters, it will be a lot easier to watch a lot of games, including those featuring your local team, on your mobile device this season. In the past, only Verizon wireless customers could watch local and prime-time NFL games on their smartphones and tablets.

This year, all wireless customers can use the NFL Mobile or Yahoo Sports apps to watch for free all in-market and national games including those on local CBS and Fox stations, NBC's Sunday Night Football games (and Thursday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles), ESPN's Monday Night Football games and upcoming Thursday Night Football games broadcast on Fox. (Remember if you aren't on WiFi, data charges will apply.)

Beyond that, most Thursday Night Football games will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video, which is among the benefits of Amazon Prime, which costs $119 annually, with the first being the Sept. 27 matchup of the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings. Not an Amazon Prime member? You can watch for free on Twitch, the video game-centric streaming service Amazon acquired for $1 billion four years ago.

You can watch Amazon Prime Video on smartphones, tablets and Net-connected devices including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, many smart TVs and game consoles.