The Twitter NFL stream of a Jets vs Bills game on September 15 was the first shot in a barrage of Thursday night NFL games on the social media platform. See below for instructions on how to watch all ten Twitter NFL games live. The ten games cover several NFL teams between now and Christmas. Fans can go to Twitter’s NFL page on their smartphones, or watch the games live on a collection of other platforms. The games cost Twitter a total of $10 million, though the social media giant has easily made back that money and more in ad sales to big companies.
Live #NFL football being stream on @twitter this evenning #TNF #Texans #Patriots #Houston #NewEngland https://t.co/HFyEQ8RbiL
— UBER Tipster (@UberTipsterUK) September 22, 2016
How to Watch Twitter NFL Games
Twitter NFL games don’t have to be viewed on a smartphone but they certainly can. To watch on an iPhone, iPad or Android device, just open the Twitter app, then go to the “Moments” section. Alternately just click tnf.twitter.com. NFL fans can watch the stream in any Twitter-served country except Canada. That’s because the great white north has a contract with the NFL that prohibits the stream. Don’t have a smartphone? No need to punt. Just tune into the Twitter app on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Xbox One. Fans will see the CBS broadcast of the first five games listed below. The second five games will carry they NBC broadcast.
The Ten Twitter NFL Games
All ten Twitter NFL games are on Thursday nights between September 15th and Christmas. The games carry a broad spectrum of teams so nearly every NFL fan will get the option to see a game on Twitter.
- 9/15/16: Jets at Bills
- 9/22/16: Texans at Patriots
- 10/6/16: Cardinals at 49ers
- 10/13/16: Broncos at Chargers
- 10/20/16: Bears at Packers
- 11/17/16: Saints at Panthers
- 12/1/16: Cowboys at Vikings
- 12/8/16: Raiders at Chiefs
- 12/15/16: Rams at Seahawks
- 12/22/16: Giants at Eagles
Also see: Tom Brady Net Worth
Twitter NFL Money
How much money does the Twitter NFL deal involve? Twitter paid a total of $10 million for the right to live stream ten games. That’s a very low price, considering Yahoo paid $20 million for just one game during the 2015 season. That said, Yahoo streamed a weekend game and secured the rights to sell a lot of ads. Twitter’s deal allows it to sell only 15 ads per game. Even so, Twitter is very probably turning a profit. According to the Wall Street Journal, the social media platform has done very well selling its ads. The company has signed deals with Ford, Anheuser-Busch and Bank of America among others. The ad packages range from $1 million to $8 million each. Doing a little quick and fuzzy math, assuming three ads per game per package and five sponsors total for an average of $4 million each, that’s $20 million total. That’s a 100% profit. Even if our estimate is high and Twitter only broke even on the deal, it’s a sweet start to an entirely new way to watch football.
Twitter NFL Ratings
So how is the Twitter NFL deal panning out? If we believe the buzz among several media outlets it’s not doing well. Ratings only reached 243,000 per minute vs 15.4 million for the average 2015 season game on TV. Those are deceptive numbers, since the Twitter game reached 2.1 million viewers total. That’s not bad on a platform that has just over 60 million users in the United States. Compare that to the roughly 280 million people who have access to CBS in the country. Another boost for Twitter’s ego is that this was a Thursday night game and the first NFL game ever broadcast on a social media platform. Some analysts are betting that the numbers will grow as word spreads that Twitter is live streaming NFL games.
Twitter NFL Games in the Future
The NFL’s VP of Social Media Tom Brady (no relation) says the league can’t afford to stick with conventional broadcasting platforms. Currently, the league’s YouTube channel garners nearly an hour of viewing per fan per game, which he says, “Dwarfs any other platform.” He says he got “chills” when a Bills fan tweeted that his baby daughter would watch football in a very different way.
If you liked reading about the Twitter NFL deal, check out our post on Peyton Manning’s net worth here or this article on Pokemon GO Money.
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