We Should All Root For YouTube To Take Over More NFL Games. And It Just Might.

YouTube will exclusively stream the NFL's Week 1 matchup on Sept. 5 in São Paulo, Brazil, the league announced Tuesday.

The NFL confirmed the Los Angeles Chargers will serve as the home team, with their opponent expected to be announced on Wednesday. Various reports indicate the Kansas City Chiefs are likely to be that opponent.

This is the second straight season the NFL has scheduled a game on the first Friday of the season on foreign soil. However, the matchup will mark the first game to stream on YouTube. 

Unlike other streaming services – be it Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock, or ESPN+ – NFL viewers won't need a paid subscription to watch. YouTube will offer the game for free, just like any other video on the platform. 

Put simply, anyone with access to the interview will have access to the game.

And for you Boomers, no, you don't have to watch the game on your phone. Almost every television created since 2016 has the YouTube app already included.

If you are still hanging on to your plasma, maybe try a Roku?

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 23:  The YouTube and Netflix app logos are seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet.  The new law will allow RTUK, the states media watchdog, to monitor online broadcasts and block content of social media sites and streaming services including Netflix and YouTube. Turkey already bans many websites including Wikipedia, which has been blocked for more than a year. The move came a day after private media company Dogan Media Company announced it would sell to pro-government conglomerate Demiroren Holding AS. The Dogan news group was the only remaining news outlet not to be under government control, the sale, which includes assets in CNN Turk and Hurriyet Newspaper completes the governments control of the Turkish media.  (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

As for the bigger picture, expect YouTube to view the game as a case study. If successful, YouTube could become a real player in the battle for the future of live sporting rights.

Viewership-wise, the game has a chance to exceed the numbers on Netflix, Amazon, and even cable. YouTube is a juggernaut. In January, the site had more than 2.7 billion active users worldwide.

The challenge is whether YouTube can generate the same revenue as its digital competitors. 

Last year, Peacock paid a reported $105 million for the NFL’s Friday Week 1 matchup. Peacock recouped that money by adding new paying subscribers. Meanwhile, YouTube will rely on ad revenue and trying to drive NFL fans to its paid services, like YouTube TV, YouTube Music, and YouTube Premium.

Luckily, YouTube has a few years to figure out its level of interest in the NFL. 

The league can't opt out of its current rights agreements with Fox, NBC, CBS, and Amazon until 2029 and with ESPN/ABC until 2030. But in four years, the NFL will almost certainly put each of its marquee packages up for sale. Other than Amazon, the other broadcasters and streamers don't have the finances to compete with YouTube. 

YouTube parent company Alphabet Inc. has a market cap of around $2 trillion, more than four times the size of Netflix. Simply put, if YouTube wants to get more involved in live sports, it will.

Given how much it now costs fans to subscribe to every channel and service that features the NFL, a long-term partnership with YouTube would be a welcome addition. 

Even if we still have to pay for cable, Amazon, ESPN+, and Netflix to watch the NFL – at least we could cancel Peacock.

Then again, if the NFL does strike a new long-term agreement with YouTube, the league will just create a new window to stream games on AppleTV+ or Max or Crunchyroll, won't it?