National Football League

Yahoo lands rights to show NFL game on Internet this fall

Published Jun. 3, 2015 11:16 a.m. ET

foxsports

NEW YORK (AP) The NFL is teaming up with Yahoo to show a game live on the Internet this fall.

The alliance announced Wednesday follows up on the NFL's previously announced plan to stream the Oct. 25 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. The game, which will be played in London, is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

It will be the first time that the NFL has allowed one of its games to be streamed live in its entirety by an Internet outlet. The Bills-Jaguars game will still be televised, like all other NFL games, in the local markets of the two teams playing each other.

Landing the rights to show the game represents a coup for Yahoo, which is trying to widen its audience and sell more advertising after more than six years of little or no revenue growth.

Yahoo Inc. declined to say how much it is paying the NFL to stream the game.

NFL games are among the most-watched events on TV, making them a valuable commodity. The NBC, CBS, ESPN and Fox networks signed long-term deals in 2011 calling for them to pay the NFL an average of about a combined $5 billion per season through this decade. That works out to an average of almost $19 million per game, including the playoffs and Super Bowl.