Verizon to show NFL games on mobile phones
Verizon Wireless won an agreement to show live National Football League games on its mobile phones, expanding its video offerings to lure smartphone customers away from rivals.
The agreement runs for four years and starts with the NFL's draft next month, Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless said in a statement today. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. The mobile carrier, the largest in the U.S., is replacing smaller rival Sprint Nextel Corp.
Verizon, Sprint and AT&T Inc. have all added features to complement smartphones such as the iPhone, which use more bandwidth than regular handsets as they surf the Web and download video. AT&T, which provides service for the iPhone in the U.S., gets almost twice as much revenue a month from smartphones as ordinary devices.
Verizon offers smartphones such as Motorola Inc.'s Droid and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Storm2. Data revenue climbed 31 percent last year, at quadruple the pace of total wireless revenue.
The NFL broadcasts games on TV through News Corp. and CBS Corp. TV channels and on Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and the league's own NFL Network on cable and satellite services.
RedZone
The NFL Network's RedZone channel, which switches between games to show teams that are approaching a scoring play on Sundays, will be available on Verizon phones. The league's Sunday night and Thursday night games also will air on Verizon, the company said.
The deal was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal, which said the price was $720 million. Verizon Wireless replaces Sprint as the NFL's official wireless sponsor. Sprint had an exclusive deal to air eight NFL network games last season.
The NFL had discussions with Sprint and other companies before choosing Verizon for its marketing and technological skills, said Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the league.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc. Verizon Communications rose 28 cents to $29.91 at 11:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had lost 11 percent this year before today.