Peacock Announces Partnership to Bring Live Sports Slate to Bars, Restaurants; Exclusive NFL Games Now Available
As sports fans, sometimes the only thing better than actually being at the game and rooting on your favorite team in person is being in a crowd of like-minded fans cheering on your squad at a watch party at a local bar or restaurant. However, as more and more sports media rights exit traditional TV platforms, the lack of availability of games on streaming services in public places has posed problems for fans. However, on Friday, NBCUniversal announced a deal designed to remedy those issues for its impressive and growing streaming slate of college and professional sports from around the world.
NBCU and EverPass Media announced a multi-year deal that would provide the latter with exclusive rights to distribute all of Peacock’s exclusive sports programming to businesses across the United States. This deal will not include games, matches, and events simulcast on Peacock from other NBCU channels including NBC, Golf Channel, and USA Network, but it will allow fans to watch the streamer’s two exclusive NFL games in sports bars around the country this season, as well as Big Ten and Notre Dame college football, major golf tournaments, English Premier League soccer, and much more.
“Peacock is proud to provide a deep collection of premium sports programming to fans. This partnership will enable us to now offer our content via a compelling commercial sports product,” NBC and Peacock Sports president of programming Rick Cordella said. “We’re excited to work with the EverPass team to bring fans more viewing opportunities and business owners ease and simplicity in streaming our best-in-class offerings.”
This fall, not only will Peacock get its first exclusive NFL game when the Buffalo Bills take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, but the streamer will also be the home of the league's first-ever streaming-exclusive playoff game when it broadcasts a Wild Card matchup on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024.
Other events that will now be available for commercial businesses because of this partnership include approximately 180 EPL matches, Spanish-language broadcasts of United States Men’s and Women’s Soccer National Team matches, the Ryder Cup, the U.S. Open, the British Open, the Tour de France, INDYCAR racing, and many niche sports including rugby, motocross, and more.
When the world focuses on Paris next summer for the 2024 Olympic Games, Peacock will broadcast every event of the entire Olympiad. Friday’s announcement did not address how the deal with EverPass would handle the Summer Games and its complicated mix of network, cable, and streaming options, but undoubtedly this will make even more Olympic action available for fans to gather and watch around the country than ever before.
“Peacock has one of the most extensive live sports offerings of any streamer in the U.S. and this exclusive agreement for the commercial distribution of its sports programming is an important milestone for EverPass,” said EverPass CEO Alex Kaplan said. “Peacock’s exclusive sports events will now become widely available for commercial businesses, creating new opportunities to expand the reach of these events. We’re excited to continue building our content library and network of distribution partners to become the preeminent premium sports and entertainment content platform for commercial establishments.”
This agreement brings highly anticipated, annual sporting events to EverPass’ growing library of premium live content and offers a new distribution vehicle for Peacock’s exclusive sports programming for bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments. EverPass is one of a number of companies that provide streaming solutions for commercial businesses. Atmosphere TV allows businesses to stream content for free from a wide selection of sports, news, and entertainment channels. As the broadcasting world continues to see sports leagues move away from traditional linear outlets as their sole distribution partners, companies like EverPass and Atmosphere will almost certainly be an integral part of ensuring that fans are still able to watch the games, teams, and events that they care about when and where they want.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.