The NFL's experiment of streaming Sunday's Bills-Jaguars game from London went off without any massive glitches but showed why it might not be viable for more than the occasional game.
With kickoff at 8:30 a.m. CDT, the game was the first NFL game to be available only online through Yahoo outside of the teams' home cities, not only within the United States but around the world. CBS' Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon broadcast the game, but with microphones that said "NFL on Yahoo." The game was broadcast on CBS in Buffalo and Jacksonville.
Many online viewers reported intermittent choppiness in the feed. Some of that likely stems from their own Internet connections, but it's a reminder of why a streaming-only option for NFL games is probably not widespread for the time being.
The NFL wants to figure out whether there's significant money to be made in distributing games "over the top" — streaming them directly to fans. Yahoo and other tech companies such as Google and Apple could be future partners in how the league broadcasts the sport, to go along with its traditional deals with the television networks.
• WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy broke into the special teams huddle to berate teammates after they gave up a decisive 100-yard kickoff return to the Giants' Dwayne Harris. After Harris sped the length of the field for the winning points in the Giants' 27-20 victory, Hardy broke into the subsequent special teams huddle before New York kicked off, with safety Danny McCray saying the passionate Hardy even "pushed me a little bit." Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the incident was not an issue. Hardy is in his first season with Dallas and missed the first four games while suspended under the NFL's personal conduct policy while with Carolina.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
