NFL 'Game Pass' With On-Demand Game Broadcasts Coming to Apple TV

Monday July 20, 2015 11:53 am PDT by Juli Clover

The NFL has long offered various packages that let football enthusiasts watch games on their mobile devices, but it's always been difficult to get that content on the Apple TV. That may be changing, however, according to a website dedicated to a revamped Game Pass program that the NFL plans to debut later this summer.

For viewers in the United States, the NFL currently offers Game Rewind, with access to on-demand NFL games after they air on broadcast television. As of July 31, 2015, Game Rewind is being discontinued in favor of Game Pass, a consolidated service that will offer all 256 NFL season games on-demand as well as access to live out-of-market preseason games.

nflgamepass1
Game Pass access will be added to the existing NFL Mobile app on the iPhone and the iPad, and the website indicates Game Pass content will also be available on "select connected TV devices" including the Apple TV. When the new Game Pass service is made available on the Apple TV, it'll be the first time the NFL has allowed full game broadcasts on Apple's set-top box, which is big news for football fans who are also cord cutters.

At the current time, there's an NFL Now channel on the Apple TV, but this is limited to historic videos, breaking news, and game highlights, rather than complete games due to contracts with television providers. With the prior Game Rewind service, the NFL went so far as to disable AirPlay mirroring to the Apple TV in an effort to keep broadcasts limited to iOS devices.

The new Game Pass works a lot like the former Game Rewind service. It includes live access to most preseason games, aside from those that are nationally broadcast, plus on-demand regular season, playoff, and Super Bowl games that are available after they air on broadcast television.

Game Pass is available in the United States, Bermuda, Antigua, the Bahamas, any U.S. territories, possessions and commonwealths (including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), and Mexico. Pricing for the Game Pass is not yet listed.

NFL fans outside of the United States already have access to an international "Game Pass" service that offers up live games and on-demand content, and while it confusingly shares the same name as the new service available in the U.S., it appears the international service will continue to be available.

(Thanks, Tyler!)

Tags: NFL, NFL Game Pass, NFL Game Rewind

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...

• 139 comments

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...

• 147 comments

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...

• 129 comments

Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Magenta and Blue

Apple TV+ Curbs Costs After Expensive Projects Fail to Capture Viewers

Monday July 22, 2024 5:11 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports. This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix's 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim,...

• 319 comments

Microsoft Blames European Commission for Major Worldwide Outage

Monday July 22, 2024 11:55 am PDT by Juli Clover

Last Friday, a major CrowdStrike outage impacted PCs running Microsoft Windows, causing worldwide issues affecting airlines, retailers, banks, hospitals, rail networks, and more. Computers were stuck in continuous recovery loops, rendering them unusable. The failure was caused by an update to the CrowdStrike Falcon antivirus software that auto-installed on Windows 10 PCs, but Mac and Linux...

• 366 comments

Top Rated Comments

expectdelay

118 months ago

If it's not live then who cares? Sports don't age very well ...

Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)

quagski

118 months ago

Not live... worthless.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

selliott

118 months ago

So close to being awesome until this " NFL Game Pass does not include live regular season, playoff, and Super Bowl game broadcasts"

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

mattopotamus

118 months ago

I almost **** bricks thinking it was going to be live games. The only reason I still have basic cable.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

RickInHouston

118 months ago

Blame Direct TV for the monopoly with Sunday Ticket.

Why blame Direct TV? They were the highest bidder. Blame the one selling the service and making it exclusive.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NachoGrande

118 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/20/nfl-game-pass-on-demand-access-apple-tv/')

The NFL has long offered various packages that let football enthusiasts watch games on their mobile devices, but it's always been difficult to get that content on the Apple TV. That may be changing, however, according to a website dedicated to a revamped Game Pass program ('http://www.nfl.com/gamepass') that the NFL plans to debut later this summer.

For viewers in the United States, the NFL currently offers Game Rewind ('https://gamerewind.nfl.com/nflgr/secure/packages'), with access to on-demand NFL games after they air on broadcast television. As of July 31, 2015, Game Rewind is being discontinued in favor of Game Pass, a consolidated service that will offer all 256 NFL season games on-demand as well as access to live out-of-market preseason games.

Game Pass access will be added to the existing NFL Mobile app on the iPhone and the iPad, and the website ('http://www.nfl.com/gamepass') indicates Game Pass content will also be available on "select connected TV devices" including the Apple TV. When the new Game Pass service is made available on the Apple TV, it'll be the first time the NFL has allowed full game broadcasts on Apple's set-top box, which is big news for football fans who are also cord cutters.

At the current time, there's an NFL Now channel on the Apple TV ('https://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/20/nfl-now-ios-apple-tv/'), but this is limited to historic videos, breaking news, and game highlights, rather than complete games due to contracts with television providers. With the prior Game Rewind service, the NFL went so far as to disable AirPlay mirroring to the Apple TV in an effort to keep broadcasts limited to iOS devices.

The new Game Pass works a lot like the former Game Rewind service. It includes live access to most preseason games, aside from those that are nationally broadcast, plus on-demand regular season, playoff, and Super Bowl games that are available after they air on broadcast television.

Game Pass is available in the United States, Bermuda, Antigua, the Bahamas, any U.S. territories, possessions and commonwealths (including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), and Mexico. Pricing for the Game Pass is not yet listed.

NFL fans outside of the United States already have access to an international "Game Pass" service ('https://gamepass.nfl.com/nflgp/secure/packages') that offers up live games and on-demand content, and while it confusingly shares the same name as the new service available in the U.S., it appears the international service will continue to be available.

(Thanks, Tyler!)

Article Link: NFL 'Game Pass' With On-Demand Game Broadcasts Coming to Apple TV ('https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/20/nfl-game-pass-on-demand-access-apple-tv/')

Need full Sunday ticket.