Fans were losers as NFL sells out to streaming, Hickory writer says

A fan not wearing a shirt gestures during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. The game was carried only on streaming service Peacock.

It’s that glorious playoff time of year for NFL football fans, so I was eager to stay in, avoid the cold weather, and watch a few games. Imagine my surprise when I checked the schedule and saw the long-awaited Chiefs-Dolphins matchup would be “the first-ever exclusively streamed NFL playoff game” on Peacock.

What? A Super Wildcard Weekend game exclusively on Peacock? A subscription streaming service is the only place broadcasting the NFL playoff game? I thought it couldn’t be true. Then, I thought surely there must be a free version of Peacock that’s streaming the game.

I was wrong.

Many games are simulcast on streaming services but this was to be the NFL’s first streaming-only playoff game. I was extremely disappointment to learn I was not going to be able to see Patrick Mahomes square off against Tua Tagovailoa. Because if there’s one thing I’m definitely not going to do, it’s sign up for an underperforming auto-billed monthly streaming service to watch one football game.

To be fair, the game was still broadcast free in the teams’ home television markets. That didn’t help me since I don’t live in those markets. And to be candid, the streaming service only costs $5.99 per month, but the six bucks didn’t matter because it’s clearly not about the price.

I simply believe that football — one of the country’s greatest pastimes — should continue to be available to everyone to watch, regardless of income level or access to the internet. I also resent being forced by the NFL to pay for at least a month of Peacock streaming service just to watch three hours of football or else miss the game entirely.

And from the looks of it, I was not alone in my frustration. Fans online described themselves as enraged. Many took to social media with a fury to voice their displeasure. Comments came in real time from fans realizing they couldn’t tune in to the game, as well as fans who’d gone to their local restaurant or sports bar only to find out those businesses didn’t have a Peacock subscription either.

Subscribers were unimpressed also. Many reported having problems with buffering, reloading, and being locked out of their accounts, perhaps because of the sheer volume of attempted viewers.

Even a U.S. Congressman joined the fray. Rep. Pat Ryan (NY) publicly shared the letter he sent to NBC and the NFL requesting they “offer the games on broadcast television and end the exclusive and exploitative streaming deals” permanently. He called the exclusive-streaming event a rip-off and a disgrace, referring to it as bait-and-switch BS.

A frequent refrain online was that the NFL was greedy for making this $110 million exclusive deal with Peacock. It’s hard to fathom that the exclusive rights to broadcast one NFL playoff game are worth $110 million but apparently that’s the going rate.

I think it’s safe to say this 9-figure revenue boost might just be influencing what the NFL called an “experiment,” saying streaming is the future. Obviously, things are trending in that direction, but Peacock only has about 30 million subscribers. Compare that to Amazon Prime’s 200 million subscribers around the world and it’s no wonder so many football fans were unhappy about the exclusive deal with Peacock.

Almost more annoying than missing the Chiefs game was having to listen to the commentators shilling for Peacock during the Browns-Texans game earlier in the day. Promoting the streaming service, they told viewers to sign up to be a part of this historic event. “Witness history being made,” they crowed, while a full third of the screen was repeatedly blocked by an advertisement with a QR code so fans could sign up quickly for the streaming service.

There’s no word yet on how many subscribers they gained because of this partnership with the NFL, but I’m sure it was significant. While Peacock may have won a bunch of new customers, it’s the fans who were the losers in this whole unfortunate business deal.

Cami Hepler is a lifelong animal lover, year-round sports fan, and part-time freelance writer from Hickory.