Posted in: NFL, Opinion, Peacock, Sports, TV, TV | Tagged: Chiefs, Dolphins, kansas city, miami, nf;, opinion, peacock

Peacock's Chiefs/Dolphins Stream Sets Record; NFL Fans Pay The Price

Peacock's Dolphins/Chiefs game brought in 27.6M viewers, making it the most-streamed event ever in the U.S. - at the expense of NFL fans.

First off, congratulations to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift (if folks want to blame her for when they lose, then she gets the credit for their wins), Andy Reid's mustache icicles, and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs for their 26-7 AFX Wild Card Game win over the Miami Dolphins during a game with temperatures that made the Antarctic seem like a warm, breezy vacation spot. But they're not the only ones celebrating. As we have a feeling you already know, the Chiefs-Dolphins game was the first streaming-exclusive NFL playoff game since streaming began to flow. And we mean exclusive "exclusive" – as in unless you were a fan in the Miami and Kansas City areas who could watch on their local NBC affiliates, your only option was Peacock (or NFL+).

So when the streaming service & league take their victory lap about reaching 27.6 million total viewers (according to Nielsen), make sure to keep it in a greater context. As impressive of a title as being the most-streamed event ever in the U.S.? It's not like NFL fans had a choice. Think of it in terms of a really great mystery. You're reading along, and the story's getting closer to revealing who the killer is – and then, the publisher tells you that you have to pay extra to read one of the final chapters. Sure, you could probably figure out what happens without reading it – but you've been along for the ride for so long how could you miss out on this chapter now? Are you pissed? Sure – but you end up paying because you don't need the hassle because you're too invested at this point to miss out now, and you don't want to be left out of the conversation everyone else is having. No different with NFL fans.

Again, it's not so much that the game was streaming – because that's the direction that everything is flowing in, folks. Even as the big companies look to clean themselves off after jumping into the "stream" a little too early without looking first, streaming is becoming the new cable – even as the NFL continues to keep the broadcast networks' & linear cable's hearts beating. And no one can say that there wasn't enough notice given, with the announcement rolled out in May 2023 that Saturday night's game would be Peacock-only. But the NFL and the streaming service fumbled the ball big time with a really bad play call. There wasn't a "free trial" option for either Peacock or NFL+.

Why would they do that when they wanna make mad money? Because when you're a league that has a very long history of offering playoff games for free and/or easily accessible, you need to play the public relations long-game. Sure, the NFL gave us an eight-month heads-up – but if this is your first time doing it? Then you would want as many people to stream the game as possible to get used to watching games on streaming. That way, they start getting used to streaming as being a new part of their viewing equation. Plus, we've seen in the past that "free trial" offers often lead to folks staying on as subscribers (even if it's because they forget to cancel the subscription and just get auto-charged).

Instead, fans were left to choose either Peacock Premium/Premium Plus (monthly: $5.99/$11.99; annually: $59.99/$119.99) and NFL+ standard/premium (monthly: $6.99/$14.99; annually: $49.99/$99.99) – and that made folks like Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) mad – so much so that he addressed a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell & NBC Sports president Rick Cordella regarding what he referred to on Twitter/X as "Peacock bait-and-switch BS." The NFL and Peacock had a chance to grow the idea of streaming being another new home for playoff games – possibly even a Super Bowl – by giving up a little green in the short term for some impactful long-term gains (financial and otherwise). Instead, they're facing a whole lot of NFL fans hitting them with a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.

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