Roger Goodell Finds Yet Another Way to Separate Americans From Their Money by Launching the NFL+ Streaming Service

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

Oftentimes it is asked by good people with a sincere love in their heart for the greatest game God ever invented why Roger Goodell has a job. The question is the result of years of frustration with the way this feckless, unprincipled, conniving, pigeon-livered, Spawn of Satan has mismanaged the once noble institution that was handed to him. The way he's made once simple rules harder to understand and enforce with each passing year. His completely arbitrary system of justice. And the constant web of lies he spins:

… while he continues to fatten himself on the flies caught in that deceptive web:

And here's the reason. At least part of it. As Johnny Ola puts it in Godfather Part II, "Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners." 

Associated Press - The NFL is making its move into offering its own media streaming platform.

The league announced that “NFL+” launched on Monday. …

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that the direct-to-consumer offering gives the league the ability to understand what fans and non-fans are seeking in terms of content and customize it for them.  …

The launch of “NFL+” comes as 15 games on Thursday night will be carried exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The “Sunday Ticket” package of out-of-market Sunday games currently will expire at the end of this season. Amazon, Apple and Google have emerged as the frontrunners to take over the rights that DirecTV has held since 1994.

“NFL+” will allow fans to view out-of-market preseason games on all devices; local and national regular-season and postseason games on mobile devices; team and national radio feeds, NFL Network shows on-demand along with the NFL Films archive. It could also include content produced by teams. It will be able to be accessed through the NFL app and website.

Now, before you start saying, "Out-of-market preseason games? Local national regular-season and postseason games? Team and national radio fees? NFL Network shows on-demand and NFL Films archives? I would like these!" slow your roll for just a second. There's more. Not necessarily in the "As Seen on TV" sense, where they'll throw in an extra can of Flex Seal for the same low, low price. But in the "Read the fine print" sense. Goodell would allow himself to be sexually humiliated by a dominatrix as part of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show before he'd undermine his most reverent broadcast partners with a real streaming service. 

Source - Both NFL Plus and Premium offer the ability to stream live local or nationally broadcast regular and postseason games (including the playoffs, Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl) but only on a mobile phone or tablet screen — not on your TV. There’s also live game audio for all games (with your choice of home, away, or national broadcasters), the entire slate of preseason games, and ad-free access to NFL’s on-demand programming. NFL Premium comes with a few extra perks, including ad-free full and condensed game replays, as well as access to Coaches Film. 

With the launch of the new subscription, NFL says it’s doing away with Game Pass. The service offered some of the same features, such as the ability to stream live and on-demand games, but also gave users the option to stream from their TV or console. This means that you’ll still need an NFL Sunday Ticket subscription if you want to get all of the out-of-market games on your TV or mobile device.

So if you had dreams of sitting down in front of your 60" home Jumbotron, merrily surfing around the league with your mighty clicker thumb or watching the Coaches Film (aka the All-22s, that some football journos do Wednesday write-ups on so they can confirm that what I say on Monday morning through a crippling hangover), you'd better think again. For that, you're gonna need a bigger iPad. 

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I'm not arguing this has no value whatsoever. I admit I'm tempted to get this. I'm curious what it would be like to watch a game while listening to either team's local radio crew, just for the comic relief of their blatant homerism. And there may be a time when your stuck someplace - like an airport without a sports bar or some such living hell - where it would be helpful to have live football or access to NFL Films. I mean, this isn't going to be like CNN+ that went out of business in less time than it takes to brew an IPA. 

But ultimately, all this does is repackage services the NFL has offered before, except limiting them to your phone or tablet. Meanwhile, Goodell is readying a bidding war among the real streaming services for Sunday Ticket. He's playing 3-Card Monte, and no matter which card you point to, he wins. He's even self-aware enough to tamp down the expectations of this (which was a huge, billion-dollar mistake CNN+ made), so he can underpromise and then claim he over-delivered. 

It's diabolically genius. And explains his $64 million salary bonus. And I'm really going to hate myself as I hand my money over to this asswipe.