The National Football League announced Tuesday that YouTube will exclusively stream the Friday night Week 1 game of the 2025 NFL season live from São Paulo, Brazil on September 5. The game will be available for free to a global audience on both YouTube and YouTube TV, marking the first time an entire NFL game will be streamed live and exclusively on the platform.
“We are excited to expand our relationship with YouTube to bring this year’s Brazil game to a worldwide audience,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. “YouTube and YouTube TV have been incredible partners of the NFL for several years and boast an immense global reach, and we look forward to Week 1 in São Paulo.”
The matchup will kick off the NFL’s 2025 International Games at Corinthians Arena, where the Los Angeles Chargers will serve as the designated team. The Chargers’ opponent will be revealed tomorrow when the full 2025 NFL schedule is released at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network, NFL.com, the NFL app and NFL+.
Officials from the streaming giant expressed enthusiasm about their deepening collaboration with the league expanding with gameday content on free YouTube.
“Last year, people spent over 350 million hours watching official NFL content on YouTube, so it’s both fitting and thrilling to continue to build our relationship with our partners at the NFL,” said Mary Ellen Coe, YouTube’s chief business officer. “Streaming the Friday night game to fans for free around the world will mark YouTube’s first time as a live NFL broadcaster—and we’ll do it in a way that only YouTube can, with an interactive viewing experience and creators right at the center of the experience.”
In addition to game streaming, the NFL and YouTube have agreed to a multi-year partnership to produce the annual Super Bowl Flag Football game featuring top content creators and music artists. The collaboration builds on the success of the inaugural Super Bowl LIX Flag Football Game, which garnered over six million live views.
Furthermore, YouTube and YouTube TV have served as the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket since 2023. The package includes all out-of-market Sunday games broadcast on CBS and FOX, giving fans across the United States the chance to follow their favorite teams and players regardless of location.
In 2024, NFL game content dominated viewership across the country accounting for 90 of the top 100 most-watched broadcasts across all programming.
The NFL and Google, YouTube’s parent company, have been partners since 2015 when the league launched its official YouTube channel. Today, that channel boasts more than 14 million subscribers and features highlights, game-day compilations, and original series. The expanded partnership with YouTube aims to further enrich the fan experience through accessible and innovative digital content.
With the addition of a live-streamed Week 1 opener and more international flag football events, both the NFL and YouTube are signaling a shared commitment to growing the game’s global presence in bold, fan-friendly ways.
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