YouTube Wins Exclusive Rights to the Opening Game of the 2025 NFL Season

YouTube continues to expand its Connected TV offering, this time via an exclusive partnership with the NFL that will see YouTube broadcast the first game of the 2025 NFL season, which will be available for free in the app.

The first game of the 2025 NFL season will be held in São Paulo, Brazil on September 5th, and YouTube will broadcast the event, live and free, to its massive global audience.

Which could be a big step for the platform’s sports broadcasting push.

As per YouTube:

“Last year, people spent over 350 million hours watching official NFL content on YouTube, so it’s both fitting and thrilling to continue to build our relationship with our partners at the NFL. Streaming the Friday night game to fans for free around the world will mark YouTube’s first time as a live NFL broadcaster – and we’ll do it in a way that only YouTube can, with an interactive viewing experience and creators right at the center of the experience.”

It’s a major endorsement of YouTube’s value as a content provider, and a viable competitor for traditional TV.

YouTube’s been hosting NFL matches since 2023, via its “Sunday Ticket” broadcasts, so, content-wise, it’s not a massive shift. But getting to air the opening night match, to all users, will bring a heap of attention YouTube’s way come football season.

And as YouTube notes, it’s also developing a range of platform-specific broadcast options for sporting events.

YouTube already facilitates multi-view, which enables fans to watch multiple games at once, while it’s also working on creator content integrations, so you can watch the game, and have creator commentary enabled.

These types of activations and options will make YouTube’s broadcasts more unique, and could help to drive more community appeal, connecting NFL viewers with YouTube creators.

And when you also couple that with YouTube’s rising relevance as a TV content provider (YouTube is now the biggest streaming video service in the U.S.), and the broader accessibility of its Connected TV elements, YouTube is clearly becoming a viable TV alternative, in all respects.

Which is important for marketers to note. Now, via YouTube, you can effectively get traditional TV reach, with advanced digital ads targeting. That can reduce the costs, while maintaining impact.

Worth considering, and it’ll be worth keeping tabs on the performance of YouTube’s NFL broadcasts, and other major event deals that it announces in future.