15 May 2023 , 22:09
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The NFL has revealed one playoff game will have no national linear television coverage after striking a deal with streaming service Peacock.
The NBC service will broadcast a Saturday night wild card game on January 13, 2024, at 8pm exclusively on the streaming service, making it the first play-off game in the United States to be screened solely online.
Viewers in the competing team's market will have access to the game on linear TV and NFL+ viewers will be able to watch it on mobile devices, but there will be no way of watching the game on TV elsewhere in the country.
The game will be the second part of an NBC doubleheader on January 13, with another wild card clash being shown on NBC and Peacock at 4.30pm.
"We are thrilled to partner with the NFL on this industry milestone, bringing to Peacock the first ever exclusively live-streamed NFL Playoff game," said NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua. "With America's number-one primetime show for a record 12 consecutive years, the terrific regular season Sunday Night Football schedule revealed last week, and today's announcement, we can't wait for the 2023 season to kick off."
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Peacock will also have exclusive rights to a regular season game, hosting live coverage of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills' duel with Justin Herbert's Los Angeles Chargers on December 23, immediately following a joint broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals' AFC North clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
NBC is the home of Sunday Night Football during the regular season. CBS and Fox own the rights for AFC and NFC Sunday afternoon games respectively, with CBS holding the rights for the Super Bowl in 2024.
Streaming platform Amazon Prime broadcasting Thursday Night Football and ESPN the long-standing home of Monday Night Football. A small selection of games are also shown on NFL Network throughout the year.
Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills will feature in a game exclusively live on Peacock on December 23. (Joshua Bessex/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The NFL continues to invest heavily in streaming services alongside it's deal with Amazon, with the league working hard to promote their NFL+ and Game Pass services.
"We are excited to work with a great partner in Peacock to present the first-ever exclusively live-streamed NFL playoff game this upcoming season," NFL executive vice president Hans Schroeder said.
"Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the league, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock's streaming platform is the next step in that strategy."