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The NFL today announced that they'll be testing the delivery of live Thursday and Saturday night games over the Internet to Verizon Fios customers. The NFL will be testing the system internally during this Thursday's Ravens Bengals game, with broader deployment on December 6 if everything works out.

Traditionally the NFL has been significantly behind Major League Baseball when it came to giving fans what they want. The NFL, still locked into their exclusive relationship with DirecTV, traditionally only offered on-line game viewing if you live outside North America. This new deal makes Verizon the only incumbent offering live NFL games via broadband.

The timing of the deal comes as major cable networks battle with the NFL over the cost of carrying the NFL network. Verizon also struck a deal to offer the NFL network via FiosTV, as well as NFL Network programming to both Fios and DSL customers.