It was announced that Sky Sports has chosen to enhance the content it delivers relating to American football after it and the NFL signed a signed five-year partnership deal. Based on the agreement, the broadcaster announced it would launch a dedicated channel called Sky Sports NFL that will, during the NFL’s campaign, broadcast five games a week.
The Chief Executive Officer for Sky UK & Europe, Stephen van Rooyen, while speaking on the partnership, stated: “We are proud of our quarter-century partnership with the NFL and are hugely excited about launching a dedicated channel which will be a first for the NFL with an international broadcaster. Sky Sports NFL will allow us to take our customers even closer to the sport.
Van Rooyen further speculated that: “Sky Sports has shown live NFL since 1995 and played a big role in growing the sport in the UK & Ireland over the last 25 years. Now, as part of Comcast, we are excited about taking our partnership to a whole new level. Our viewers are passionate sports fans and we look forward to capturing the drama of the NFL for another five years.”
The official launch of the channel will be during the first week of September with its planned start date being a week before the 2020 NFL season gets underway on the 10th of the month. The channel will broadcast all regular season games as well as the playoffs and Super Bowl. The intention of the new channel is to become a round the clock channel for televised NFL content and will extend to include those wishing to subscribe in Republic of Ireland.
Statements from NFL Commissioner
The commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell stated in response to the agreement: “Sky Sports has been a fantastic broadcast partner for a quarter of a century. This new five-year agreement and the launch of a dedicated Sky Sports NFL channel will undoubtedly continue our rapid growth in the UK and Ireland. We are excited that our expanded partnership with Sky will provide even more NFL content to our millions of UK and Irish fans.”
In addition to regular NFL content, the channel will include various existing and new content, new weekly shows as well as NFL Network programming. In addition, the NFL will have access to increased coverage on all Sky Sports social media and digital networks.