IBM, football league in branding, video pact

NEW YORK: The National Football League (NFL) is teaming up with computer maker IBM to convert up to 80 years of pro football films into digital form for players, coaches and fans.

In a joint statement, the NFL and IBM said the video transfer project was part of a three-year corporate sponsorship and technology services pact.

As part of the agreement, IBM was named for the first time as the NFL's official information technology partner, joining other powerhouse brands such as Pepsi and Coors that have rights to use NFL and Super Bowl logos in their own marketing.

No financial terms were disclosed. But the deals appeared to depend on mutually beneficial ad barter and service swaps.

In return, the IBM brand will feature prominently at NFL media events, including NFL.com and NFL Sunday Ticket, the sports league's subscription service on DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite television service.

"Just on the face of it, it's a massive job," said Lou Latham, a business video analyst with Gartner Inc. who was briefed by the league and the company on their plans.

The NFL archive contains 100 million feet of film that dates back 75 to 80 years, the video production expert said.

Latham said that the video archiving project could cost tens of millions of dollars if paid for in the open market.

The NFL and IBM will provide NFL Films, the archivists of professional football footage; the league's 34 team franchises; and television broadcasters with controlled access to a massive real-time playback system that holds the vault of old footage.

IBM will provide a range of its computer hardware and technical services and consulting to the NFL for the project. Previously, IBM has acted as a technology supplier but never formed any formal partnership with the league.

A license to use the NFL logo typically runs several million dollars a year, said Peter Brickman, the NFL's senior director of operations and technology.

Initially, the plan is to focus on making digital content more readily available to the NFL's existing media partners, as well as players and coaches who use it to study prior games and develop strategies for future face-offs.

The NFL is also studying how to deliver the footage directly to fans. Eventually, stadium goers may be able to order up footage from the archives and have it delivered via short-range, high-speed wireless links direct to their phones.

© Reuters