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This is awesome news. Google is in preliminary talks with the NFL regarding taking on NFL's "Sunday Ticket" package from DirecTV to show the games on its own network (my fingers are crossed for YouTube). The current package runs for $1B/year for DirecTV and the increase of football popularity has run the expected price to around $1.5B/year. That's a lot for certain companies, but definitely not for Google.
As Google tries to grow into alternative mediums (television! internet!), having a stranglehold on football is a big step in gaining popularity in the USA. The fact that we might be able to access games live from around the country, just by accessing Google? That's an incredible possibility. I'll be able to watch Patriots games in New York, without the need for cable!
Google and YouTube have run live programming before- most spectacularly the descent of Felix Baumgartner from the stratosphere. They've proven they can handle the traffic and that this concept of live television over YouTube can work. I'm definitely going to strap myself to the edge of my seat to see where this goes.