The next time you miss an exciting NFL football game, and you desperately want to see that amazing one-handed catch that everybody in the office is talking about, try checking your Facebook news feed. The NFL has agreed to provide short video segments to the world’s largest social network. It’s not exactly a straightforward advertising arrangement. The NFL considers the type of game highlights and football news video clips it’s offering to be premium content, meaning they expect to be paid in exchange for the privilege of airing it. That’s where Verizon Wireless comes into the picture. For now, they’re financing the arrangement as the sole sponsor. After viewers watch a video of Tony Romo completing a spectacular pass, they’ll immediately see a Verizon Wireless advertisement. The exact financial arrangement hasn’t been disclosed, but Facebook, Inc. and the NFL will share the ad revenue. This isn’t entirely new territory for the NFL, as it inked out a similar partnership with Twitter last year. With Facebook’s auto play video feature, the clips, and their accompanying advertisements, are likely to receive far more views.

#BestNFLPlay: Week 16 #2. "@Voicememories: @ESanders_10 one-hand catch!!" http://t.co/i8OZCG5v9x

— NFL (@nfl) December 23, 2014

The NFL on Facebook is yet another example of the social network focusing its efforts on video. It’s been introducing new video features regularly, as of late. YouTube, the world’s largest online streaming video site, might want to pay attention. The NFL doesn’t have a YouTube channel that it posts videos to. In this style of video platform, as opposed to Twitter’s real time focus, this NFL partnership could be considered a Facebook exclusive. With 162 million viewers last month, YouTube still has a tremendous lead over Facebook, which served online video to 95 million unique viewers. If, however, Facebook continues to innovate its video platform with new features and exclusive content partnerships, it’s not unthinkable that it could become the number one provider of online video in the not too distant future.

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