Channel 5, Sky Sports, and NFL Game Pass will also show NFL in the UK
ITV has agreed a three-year broadcast deal with the NFL, 15 years after it last showed the competition in 2007.
The coverage will begin on 9 September, with the first of what will be a weekly hour-long show airing at 11.30pm on ITV. Laura Woods will present, with analysis from two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora and former NFL player Jason Bell as they look at the season opener between the LA Rams and Buffalo Bills.
The show will aim to give viewers an update on everything they need to know ahead of the weekend’s games, and will also air on ITV4 at 8.30am on Saturday mornings as well as being available on ITV Hub. ITV’s programming will be shown by STV in Scotland and Virgin Media in Ireland, and their respective OTT players.
North One will be producing ITV’s NFL coverage.
In addition, ITV will show Super Bowl LVII live from Glendale, Arizona on 12 February. There are also several UK-based games, including the New York Giants v Green Bay Packers on 9 October at 2.30pm from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Jacksonville Jaguars v Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium on 30 October at 1.30pm.
ITV will share the NFL with Channel 5 on free-to-air TV, with the latter to continue airing Monday Night Football and an NFL End Zone show on Sunday mornings. It takes over the BBC’s role in NFL coverage.
Sky Sports continues as the pay-TV home of NFL broadcasting the vast majority of games, with NFL Game Pass a D2C option for diehard fans who want all the games. To hear more on the NFL’s rights strategy in the UK, read Broadcast Sport’s interview with its managing director for international media, Sameer Pabari.
Niall Sloane, ITV director of sport, said: “This deal will bring to ITV viewers the very best of the NFL each week in our highlights shows throughout the season as well as key live games. We’re delighted to be able to offer viewers, free to air, across our channels as well as the ITV Hub, the unique spectacle and action the NFL brings.”
Henry Hodgson, managing director of NFL UK, added: “This is another significant milestone for the NFL in this country. We have enjoyed seven fantastic years of NFL coverage on BBC TV and the time is right to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a new partnership with ITV. When you look at the development of the NFL in the UK in recent years – with momentum behind fan growth, more London games, successful British players in the NFL, the launch of an Academy and a charitable foundation – this announcement is another sign of our ambition to grow and develop the sport in the UK.”
Laura Louisy, director, international business development and media for the NFL, commented: “We’re excited to announce this new partnership with ITV which, with the new and enhanced weekly Friday evening shows and live coverage of London Games and Super Bowl, will take the NFL’s free to air coverage into a new era and reach a new audience across ITV’s channels, to showcase to the UK what the NFL is all about: passion, unpredictable competition and exceptional entertainment.”
This announcement comes shortly after ITV took LaLiga free-to-air, with a monthly showcase match to be shown by the broadcaster.
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