Should the NFL Stream Its Games Online? Think About The Community Possibilities!

Last night was a gridiron match between the Cowboys and the Packers – both teams that some have selected to win this year’s Super Bowl. But for the majority of U.S. households, we were not able to watch the game because it was shown on the NFL Network. The NFL Network is currently only available on satellite. There is some fighting going on between cable, satellite and the NFL about whether cable will carry the NFL Network and of course it is about dollars.

Currently there is some NFL coverage on the Sprint mobile network but it’s not real-time game streaming. Verizon has some kind of streaming but you must have DirecTV or Verizon Fios TV as well. So to me it’s more of an add-on, not a stream.

The last week of the season features the Giants vs. Patriots and it could be the perfect season game for the Patriots. However, it’s on the NFL Network only. So the largest market in the country will basically be blacked out from viewing. ArmchairGM has put together a petition to allow the game to be streamed on the Internet. I’ve signed it. They include in the petition, "It is the ultimate solution for the NFL. Give the customers a taste of what we’re missing. Propagandize all you want during the 30-second commercial breaks. Sell highly targeted ads to DirecTV, Dish Network, Sprint, and other strategic partners. Show us why "IWantMyNFLNetwork." Do it for the League. Do it for the Network. Do it for your customers."

I agree but what about if the NFL was to stream every game online? Take micropayments for each game – say $2.99 per game and let me watch whoever I want. I know that the Sunday Ticket package was supposed to do that but again, it’s locked to DirecTV. What’s great about this idea is that it could bring fans together as well. It could be streamed Ustream-style with the chat window and maybe Viddler-style commenting would allow fans to provide video comments as well. Even taking it a step further, fans could become commentators and I could tune into a fan station if I choose. What an online experience that would be.

Personally I enjoy watching the games, but don’t care about the recap shows and so online streaming would work great for me.

Now of course, this model would work well for any major sport – and Nascar as well. With this type of offering plus Hulu and Joost, one might never need a cable box again.