Sky Sports has been awarded the rights to the NFL's Sunday Night Football for the next two years, bringing viewers an additional game a week and taking the schedule to more than 100 live matches a season.
NFL fans with Sky Sports can enjoy more coverage than ever before across TV, online, mobile and tablet devices with at least five games a week across the regular season, every playoff clash, the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl.
Also new for this season is Monday Night Football, which alongside Thursday and Sunday games, provides viewers with more matches during the regular season. Sky Sports will also be showing exclusively live pre-season coverage for the first time in seven years, as New Orleans Saints host the Houston Texans on Sunday 30 August.
There will be all the drama and scores from around the NFL each Sunday of the regular season from RedZone, available via the red button and Sky Sports Xtra, which is available to customers through skysports.com and the Sky Sports iPad app.
Sunday Night Football is America’s most watched programme and from week five of the season, the NFL’s flexible scheduling ensures that a key match-up with playoff implications is featured. In the final six weeks of the regular season Sunday Night Football will also be simulcast live on Sky 1. Commentary comes from NBC's award-winning pairing of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.
Jonathan Licht, director of Sky Sports strategy, said: “We’re excited to add Sunday Night Football to our extensive NFL coverage this season. Viewers can now enjoy over 100 games a season on Sky Sports, which added to our digital and On Demand offering, makes it our most comprehensive line-up of NFL ever. NFL fans in the UK and Ireland are going to be in for a fantastic season.”
Alistair Kirkwood, managing director of NFLUK, added: “We are very excited about Sky Sports' plans for NFL coverage over the next five years. The addition of Sunday Night Football this season will further deepen the outstanding partnership we have enjoyed for more than two decades and demonstrates Sky’s commitment to the sport here. We are looking forward to the programming and promotion of the NFL that they will be bringing to UK and Irish fans in this upcoming season and beyond.”
The schedule for week one of live NFL on Sky Sports has now been confirmed:
New England Patriots v Pittsburgh Steelers Thu 10 Sept 0.00am
Chicago Bears v Green Bay Packers Sun 13 Sept 5.30pm
Denver Broncos v Baltimore Ravens Sun 13 Sept 9.00pm
Dallas Cowboys v New York Giants Mon 13 Sept 0.30am
Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles Tue 15 Sept 0:05am
San Francisco 49ers v Minnesota Vikings Tue 15 Sept 3:15am
As well as live games, Sky Sports will offer full coverage and analysis through online and social media including all the news, previews and game reports. Video content will be available every day during the season on Sky Sports platforms, including the “Top 5 Touchdowns” of the week.
Viewers can also enjoy the latest edition of the NFL and HBO produced series, NFL Hard Knocks, featuring the Houston Texans, as well as other award winning NFL films programming. Sky Sports News HQ will continue to provide up to date NFL news, views and previews, plus highlights of all the action will be available On Demand.
Fans will be able to watch the action live wherever they are on mobile, laptop and selected tablets via Sky Go. Non-subscribers can also see the matches without a contract through online TV streaming service NOW TV. By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, they can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
