Playoff game behind a Peacock paywall is a new frontier in NFL’s embrace of streaming

The quarterback matchup between Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes isn’t the only major storyline going into their AFC wild card game.

Another question is how many fans will pay to watch one of the NFL’s important games of the season being carried exclusively on a streaming platform for the first time.

Saturday night’s game will be shown on Peacock after NBCUniversal won the rights last May. The game will be broadcast on the NBC affiliates in Kansas City and Miami, following the NFL’s protocol for Thursday night games streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Everyone else will have to pay for a Peacock subscription — plans start at $5.99 per month — to watch the game, and some fans are less than thrilled about the NFL putting a playoff game behind a paywall for the first time.

“I mean, the NFL, which prints money — that’s got more money than God — they gotta make another $110 million for that stupid Peacock game,” commentator Chris Russo said on ESPN’s “First Take” program. “Oh my God, that drove me crazy! That is being a pig! That’s what that’s being.

“So, the poor person who’s 75 years of age, who’s followed the Chiefs since (Hank) Stram and Len Dawson, has gotta figure out on his remote where to get the stupid game and pay for the streaming service to see a playoff game!”

Under the NFL’s contract, each of its four broadcast partners — NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN/ABC — gets at least one wild-card game. Of the two remaining games, one rotates each year between NBC, CBS and Fox, while the other will likely be up for bid each year. That means Amazon or ESPN+ could eventually be in the running.

“We’re very focused and very committed on broadcast. For us, it’s not either/or, it’s both. We want to continue to broaden the distribution for our content,” said Hans Schroeder, the league’s executive vice president of media distribution. “We see the continued evolution in the media landscape, and we want to be where our fans are. We know they’re increasingly, especially younger fans, on different screens. So that’s why it’s important for us, not just for this game, but throughout the year, that we’re on these different digital platforms.”

ESPN started carrying NFL games in 1987, but it took 27 seasons before it aired its first playoff game. The league’s embrace of streaming has been much faster.

Amazon Prime Video became the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football” last season while ESPN has streamed one international game per season on ESPN+ since 2021.

Peacock had its first exclusive regular-season game when the Buffalo Bills visited the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 23.

All playoff games will also be available on mobile devices through the NFL+ package.

According to Prime Video, the median age of its audience was 48.5 years — 6.9 years younger than the median age of viewers watching the NFL on Sundays (55.4).

NBC Sports president Rick Cordella did not share expectations about the number of new Peacock subscribers the company is hoping to gain from streaming a playoff game. He said NBC’s top priorities were making sure the production is top-notch and that its streaming technology can handle the influx of viewers.

“We’re in the big event business. We’ve streamed the Super Bowl in the past, World Cup, Olympics, WrestleMania, Premier League each weekend, ‘Sunday Night Football’ throughout the season,” Cordella said. “So, this is not new territory for us, and I have confidence that our product and tech teams will deliver a great experience for the viewers Saturday evening.”