The NFL has championed in game social integration through companies like Wayin, but is halting mobile streaming for the biggest game of the year.
For Super Bowl XLVIII this Sunday, the NFL is blocking live streaming of the game inside Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. The contest between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks will be streamed on NFL.com and Fox Sports, but fans at the game will be blocked from a Wi-Fi and cellular connection at for mobile apps and web browsers.
The league did this last year last minute during the game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, but planned ahead this year.
“While we do know that people like to look at replays on their phones and there are some people who like to stream certain amounts of video in the game, the vast majority of our fans want to watch the game on the field, watch the replays on the jumbo board, and participate in the event more than they want to be checking their phone,” NFL CIO Michelle McKenna-Doyle McKenna-Doyle told ArsTechnica in an interview.
“While we could have made some of that available, it might have impacted the ability for the majority of the fans to be able to stay connected to social media, tweet, Facebook, that kind of thing.
The NFL will provide fans in attendance with a Super Bowl app consisting of exclusive content, but that won’t include streaming video.
The mobile streaming blocking will not interfere with fans ability to post pictures from the game on their social platforms.