China: Tencent scores NFL streaming deal
August 23, 2017
The National Football League (NFL) and Tencent have announced a three-year partnership to make Tencent Sports the exclusive live digital streaming media partner of the NFL in China.
Under terms of the agreement, Tencent will air live and on-demand select preseason games, all Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football games, as well as select Sunday afternoon games, the playoffs, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. The partnership also features other expanded footage and programming rights, such as the NFL Draft, NFL Combine, and NFL Game Day, as well as programming such as NFL Hard Knocks and A Football Life, further bolstering Tencent’s non-game NFL content.
NFL live games and content will be available for fans to access through Tencent’s NFL sections on both mobile and desktop terminals including Tencent Sports, QQ.com, Tencent Video, Kuai Bao, Penguin Live, Tencent Sports app, Tencent Video app, Tencent News app, as well as its social networking services, QQ and WeChat.
“We are very excited about the NFL’s future in China and proud of our partnership with Tencent,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We are confident that this agreement will provide our growing number of Chinese fans with a better viewing experience and more opportunities for engagement with the NFL than ever before.”