The NFL is gearing up for Super Bowl XLIX with the launch of an official YouTube channel, through a partnership with Google that will also see the channel appearing when fans search for specific teams on the search engine.

“On any screen you watch YouTube, NFL’s YouTube channel will bring you the sights and sounds this week in Arizona, from pre-game analysis to the highlights that everyone will be talking about,” YouTube’s sports partnerships manager Tim Katz said in a blog post.

The NFL is playing a long game here, though: the channel will continue to post videos during the league’s off-season, before resuming highlights and other clips once the next season gets underway.

The league only set up the channel in mid-December, and has been stocking it with clips from recent playoff matches and season-highlights for individual players ready for the launch this week, ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The NFL is late to YouTube in comparison with rival sporting bodies in the US. Basketball body the NBA joined YouTube in 2005 and now has more than 6m subscribers and 2.5bn video views on the service.

Ice hockey body the NHL joined in 2006 and has more than 294m views, while baseball organisation MLB joined in 2005, and has nearly 237m views.

However, the NFL has a wider digital strategy that is more advanced, with a suite of apps including one through which fans will be able to watch the Super Bowl live on their smartphones or tablets.

“Partnering with YouTube and Google provides the NFL unique access to millions of highly engaged fans through the global leader in video and search,” said the NFL’s Hans Schroeder.

“We continue to see an insatiable appetite for digital video content, and this partnership further expands fans’ ability to discover and access NFL content throughout the year.”

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