We knew that the National Football League’s brand new online network would eventually come to the Apple TV. And now it’s here. After not being a part of the NFL Now device lineup on launch day, Apple’s streaming box is finally adding the video service to its growing channel portfolio. There are no Apple TV-specific features in tow, and therefore you should expect the same type of content as on apps from other platforms — such as real-time highlights, live press conferences analysis and, with NFL Now Plus, access to the league’s NFL Films vault. Don’t worry if you’re not seeing it on your Apple TV yet, as it’s just started rolling out and it may take a little while before you see the app show up. It”ll be there soon, though, scout’s honor.
The National Football League announced Wednesday that NFL Now has come to Apple TV, bringing the league’s new video network to another major streaming service. NFL Now, which officially launched earlier this month, is a digital network that offers free on-demand videos from across the league’s video catalog, including game highlights, press conferences, and videos produced by NFL Films and the 32 NFL teams. The network was already available through Roku and Microsoft’s Xbox streaming services, as well as on Android, iOS and Windows mobile devices, and online at NFL.com/Now. A person familiar with the service told CNET earlier this month that Apple TV was expected to become a partner a few weeks after the service launched. Also, the NFL previously indicated that NFL Now will be available on the Kindle Fire, Amazon Fire TV, Yahoo Screen, and Yahoo Sports by the start of the 2014 NFL regular season, which kicks off September 4. NFL Now is the league’s latest effort to offer up more NFL information and videos over the Internet, as it seeks to join in on the growing popularity of on-demand streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Also, Apple TV now matches Roku for this particular channel. However, Roku is approaching 2,000 channels while Apple TV’s more selective approach means it has only about two dozen content partners.