Super Bowl to be streamed online for the first time, as well as on iOS and Android

There is, bar none, no other televised, live event in the country that commands as much popularity and viewing numbers as the annual NFL Super Bowl. Last year's sporting event drew over 100 million viewers. In a major announcement today, NBC and the National Football League today released their decision that the upcoming championship game of the professional football league will be the first one that will be "streamed online and to mobile phones." As an avid football fan, what more can I say, than, "truly awesome"?

Furthermore, beyond just the Super Bowl, NBC and the NFL is also gearing up to stream "NBC's broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl would be available on the league's and network's websites and through Verizon's NFL Mobile app." This will reportedly also allow viewers access to exclusive camera angles, game highlights, as well as live-updated sports statistics. The announcement doesn't cover which Verizon devices will be streamed to, though it's very possible that if you're able to watch NBC's current football coverage on your smartphone, you're probably set to stream Super Bowl XLVI.

NBC already provides Sunday Night Football access both on the web (which the author has watched quite a few times during this season), as well as on NFL Mobile, but until now, it and previous broadcasters couldn't show the most important games, outside of being televised or turning to a bootleg stream as a last resort. Kudos to NBC, the NFL, and Verizon for making this happen. And after the playoffs, may the best team win.

[via Silicon Filter]