The NFL made its first appearance in the 2023-2024 NFL Playoffs.
No, it’s not a match between kansas city chiefs And that miami dolphinsDespite the frigid weather, it went down in history as the fourth coldest game in NFL history.
But how was that game broadcast?
For the first time in NFL history, a playoff game was streamed exclusively on a streaming service. In this case, the Chiefs vs. Dolphins game was exclusive. peacockThe streaming service reportedly paid $110 million for the rights to air the game.
As is the trend in the NFL, the ratings were very high. 23 million people watched the match, making it the largest streaming event in history. Many people were able to tune in locally at markets in Kansas City and Miami, but this was a great first step.
The question, of course, is whether more games will become streaming exclusives. Considering recent data, that door appears to be open.
Probably wide open.
According to an analysis from antenna, a service that specializes in analyzing subscriber data, so the idea that fans would sign up for a streaming service for a single NFL game and unsubscribe shortly thereafter may be off the mark.as antenna The majority of people who subscribed peacock The Chiefs vs. Dolphins game actually stalled; Didn’t cancel right away:
“In the case of Peacock, by the end of February, approximately seven weeks after AFC Wildcard Weekend, Antenna observed that 29% of AFC Wildcard subscribers had canceled their subscriptions, meaning 71% remained subscribed. Peacock’s one-month survival rate for all signups in 2023 was 78%.”
antenna It was also estimated that peacock Around the time of the AFC Wild Card Game, the streaming platform saw around 3 million people sign up. All of these subscriptions were paid, as the service did not offer free trials at the time. Using this as a reference point, he would still have over 2 million new subscribers at the end of February.
Two million subscribers for about $5.99 a month? Well, eventually we start talking about real money.
antenna We also looked at data about the Super Bowl broadcast on . CBS But even streaming paramount+, the network’s streaming service.according to antenna Approximately 3.4 million new subscribers registered paramount+ Three days left until the Super Bowl.Since then paramount+ We were offering a free trial, but antenna It found that 68% of new subscribers, or 2.3 million people, took advantage of the trial.
However, this meant that an additional 1.1 million new subscribers were paid.
And by the end of February antenna It found that 65% of its 3.4 million subscribers, or approximately 2.2 million subscribers, “continued with a paid subscription or switched from a free trial to paid.”
antenna The data is summarized in the figure below.
lesson? Streaming NFL games, at least his two most of the people who subscribe to his platform actually stayed on and didn’t cancel anytime soon, as many assumed. It was. Maybe you kept using it because you liked the extra content, or maybe you forgot to cancel.
But streaming services are happy with it anyway.
Ahead of Super Bowl V, Roger Goodell insisted on making the game available on streaming services, even though he said a streaming-only Super Bowl wouldn’t happen “in my lifetime.”
“Our fans are on these platforms. Our fans want access to them,” Goodell said in February. “The technology is amazing. Some of these platforms can do things that linear platforms can’t do. So for us, it’s part of the future. We don’t know where it goes from here. , we will continue to deliver it to our fans where they are, with the best production possible and the best technology possible.”
In numbers such as those revealed by antennaStreaming more games is probably a safe option.
