NFL, Verizon Wireless in talks to stream live football on tablets

The National Football League said it is in discussions with mobile operator partner Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) to stream games via connected tablet device. "The NFL will be on a tablet," NFL senior vice president of media strategy Brian Rolapp tells The Wall Street Journal. "It's a question of what shape or form. We are currently talking to Verizon about it." Verizon Wireless declined to comment on the talks.

The existing NFL/Verizon Wireless licensing partnership covers only mobile handsets, not tablets: "The rights issues around tablets are still very much in flux," Verizon executive director of multimedia and entertainment Colson Hillier told the WSJ. "There is some sorting out that needs to take place." Verizon announced its first tablet, the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab, in mid-September.

Verizon Wireless announced a four-year sponsorship agreement with the National Football League in March 2010. Per terms of the deal, Verizon Wireless is now the league's exclusive mobile media partner as well as its official wireless service sponsor, roles previously filled by rival Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S). The deal is reportedly valued at $720 million, including a rights fee and advertising spending; the earlier Sprint package was valued at $120 million.

Verizon Wireless' NFL Mobile application offers subscribers news, headlines, statistics and scores as well as multimedia content. In addition to live audio broadcasts of every regular season game, NFL Mobile users can add a premium V Cast Video subscription to access video-on-demand player and team news as well as live streaming coverage of the NFL Network, the cable channel's NFL RedZone offshoot (which airs live or near-live look-ins of every significant play and touchdown from the Sunday afternoon action), NBC's marquee Sunday Night Football and NFL Network's Thursday Night Football. "Whether we secure the rights to every game, we will have to see," Hillier said.

For more on the NFL/Verizon Wireless talks:
- read this Wall Street Journal article

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