Jon Swartz

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — It's game on, when the NFL live-streams three games from London next season.

Apple and Alphabet subsidiary Google are among those vying for the digital-broadcasting rights, according to a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources.

Representatives from the NFL, Apple and Google could not immediately be reached for comment.

It is unclear if all three games — Indianapolis Colts-Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 2, New York Giants-St Louis Rams on Oct. 23, and Washington Redskins-Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 30 — will be carried by the same tech company or split up, the report said.

The initial NFL live-stream from England this season, between the Buffalo Bills and Jaguars, was an online hit, drawing 15.2 million viewers worldwide on Yahoo, which streamed the game for fans for free. About one-third of the viewership came from outside the U.S., where the NFL is trying to make inroads for fans and advertising. NBC's top-rated Sunday Night Football attracts, on average, more than 20 million viewers in the U.S.

The success of Yahoo's broadcast is the latest evidence of the appetite for programming over the Internet. As more consumers cancel their cable subscriptions and cut the cord, sports leagues and content producers are turning to high-tech partners to present original content via mobile devices.

Although Yahoo charged less than $100,000 for ads during its live-streamed NFL game, all the commercial slots were sold to more than 30 advertisers.

Follow USA TODAY San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz @jswartz