The NFL has finally joined YouTube. Welcome to the future, guys!

The new channel is part of a deal with Google, which will see the NFL upload official highlights and more video content on YouTube.

“It’s pretty simple: 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. After the Super Bowl, don’t let the worst Monday of the year get you down. NFL’s YouTube channel will post more videos all through the offseason,” says Tim Katz, Sports Partnerships Manager.

Of course, it’s not that simple.

Re/code has the details on the business end of it all:

The NFL says Google will sell ads against the league’s information and clips and share revenue with the NFL; the deal also calls for Google to promote the NFL on YouTube and in other places.

Of course, clips are all you’re going to see. The dream of the NFL allowing full games to be shown on YouTube, if even possible at all, is likely pretty far on down the road.

There’s also a big search element to this deal. Google will integrate video clips into its search results.

The NFL already has deals in place with the likes of Facebook and Twitter, and this deal with Google was a long time coming. It’s just nice to see the NFL make any moves to open up its content distribution – however microscopic they may be.