FieldPass

FieldPass is a subscription Internet radio Out-of-Market Sports Package provided by the National Football League that provides live and archived audio broadcasts of NFL games throughout the regular season and playoffs at a price of $9.95 (US) per month or $39.95 (US) per season.

Prior to 2002, NFL.com used to offer free broadcasts of its NFL games by special agreement with approximately 20 of its member teams. However, about the same time as the first Internet radio bust, the NFL decided to join the RealOne SuperPass system, a subscription multimedia service that provided various channels from major broadcast providers for a fee (hence the word "Pass" in the name). RealNetworks still manages FieldPass in partnership with the league, but the service is now sold only as a separate package and is no longer available with the "SuperPass" package.

FieldPass provides audio feeds from the flagship English-language radio stations of all 32 NFL teams, broadcasting every preseason, regular season, and postseason game except the Pro Bowl. To direct listeners to the service, the NFL has banned local affiliates from streaming NFL games on the Internet, although several stations still broadcast the games anyway and enforcement of this ban is inconsistent.

FieldPass's audio coverage of the Super Bowl is unique. Because the NFL only allows one station to air a local broadcast for each team in the contest, FieldPass and Sirius Satellite Radio are the only options for those who want to listen to their home team but live outside of the flagship station's listening range. However, while the team broadcasts still require a subscription, various foreign language broadcasts, as well as live feeds from the stadium PA announcer and "press box" stat play-by-play, are made available on FieldPass for free. The archives of these broadcasts remain free.

From spring until August 1, FieldPass opens up its archives to "free preview." All games from the past years are available for free during this window, as is live coverage of the NFL Draft and other live multimedia. Until its demise in 2007, NFL Europe live video broadcasts were also available on the service.

What is not available on FieldPass is the "NFL on Westwood One" and the NFL on "Sports USA Radio Network", nor are Spanish-language broadcasts (except for the Super Bowl). As such, the Pro Bowl, broadcast exclusively by Westwood One, has never been available on FieldPass.

An Internet television spinoff service, GamePass, is being tested in conjunction with Yahoo! in markets outside of North America.

External links

* [http://www.nfl.com/fieldpass NFL Field Pass]
* [http://www.nfl.com/fieldpassaudio List of games]