NFL Looks Long

MIKE REYNOLDS

Seeking to build its fan base and drive technology abroad, the NFL is teaming with Fantastic Entertainment and GlobalMedia.com to provide games and related content to broadband users in select non-U.S. markets around the globe.

The NFL plans to offer contests on broadband with Fantastic Entertainment, a global provider of multimedia solutions, handling the delivery and content security. In turn, streaming and e-solutions provider GlobalMedia will supply the interface for a host of "rich media" components.

The broadband kickoff is expected some time next month. A spokeswoman for Fantastic says the company is in final negotiations with several carriers, with expectations that deals will be struck and NFL games and attendant content will be sent to broadband households in "mid- to late November."

Last year, the NFL became the first and only U.S. pro sports league to offer game Webcasts when it began delivering the action to Singapore and Amsterdam through pacts with telephone service Singtel Magix, which delivers match-ups on a video-on-demand basis throughout the week, and via cable modem on the UPC/ Chello platform.

Users accessing the games in Singapore pay by the quarter, while those in Amsterdam get the games gratis. Under the new alliance, the league spokesman says different price points will be tested via different delivery models, with games likely to be proffered on a per-game, per-weekend or per-subscriber basis.

The NFL spokesman says one of the markets where the games will be delivered is Australia. Conversely, the games will not be offered via broadband in nations where the league has established solid TV followings, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, among them, as a means to protect its broadcast partners. Similarly, U.S. TV rights-holders will not be impinged by broadband delivery during the duration of their current contracts, which expire in 2005.

The NFL spokesman says the content that will be delivered through its new partnership will be vastly superior in terms of resolution and enhancements.

"This is full-screen, full-motion," he says. "None of that grainy, jerky stuff you get with a lot of streaming video. There is also a picture-in-picture component so fans can watch two games at once."

Additionally, users will be able to pull down game stats, order merchandise, retrieve archival footage and bloopers from NFL Films, and receive instructive elements.

"Since these are foreign fans, they might not know all the rules," says the spokesman. "Users will be able to pull down animated images supplied by EA Sports to illustrate rules and plays."

"GlobalMedia has designed a unique user interface that we believe is a huge step toward full interactivity between users and content," says Kay Richards, director-marketing and communications at GlobalMedia. "This will be a rich, not a passive, viewing experience for NFL fans abroad."