Report: NFL & NBC to stream free games on the Web

The NFL and NBC are reportedly poised to announce a deal that'll bring NBC's "Sunday Night Football" games to the Web—legally, and for free.

According to Broadcast & Cable, the deal will include 17 regular season games—no post-season or Super Bowl, unfortunately. Viewers will be able to watch additional camera angles (including a "player-cam") and on-demand highlights.

As B&C notes, the deal (described by a source as a "one-year experiment") will mark the first time that the NFL has streamed a game—for free—on the Web in the U.S. The first game on tap: The Washington Redskins versus the New York Giants at 7 p.m. September 4.

Now, NFL fans overseas have been able to stream games online for a few seasons now, and if you're a baseball fan, MLB.tv gives you online access to all the games you can stand for $50 a year.

But in the U.S., the only way to (legally) watch NFL games online—or, for that matter, to watch any out-of-market games that aren't being televised locally—is to subscribe to DirecTV's pricey NFL Sunday Ticket package ($270 for the regular season, plus $99 a season for online streaming).

Personally, I'm more than ready for the NFL equivalent of the MLB's online streaming service—either ad-supported or free. But as the Wall Street Journal notes, the big networks are worried that online streaming might "cannibalize" TV viewership of their NFL games. Both the NFL and NBC hope to prove that streaming games on the Web will add viewers, not take them away.

Note to CBS, Fox, etc.: Trust me, the die-hard gridiron fans I know would not only have their laptops open every Sunday, but they'd also have every TV in the house tuned in to any game that's on the air. 

Show of hands: Who's been dying to stream the NFL online (outside of DirecTV's Superfan service)?

Related:
NFL, NBC to Stream Games Live [Broadcast & Cable]