Sports insights nfl full#
Sports insights nfl series#

“This new channel gives sports fans the opportunity to learn more about the NFL – the players, the teams, the history, and the excitement around the game – while the actual number of games that Sky will be showing will be the same as it was in the past few years. We began talking about the potential for a dedicated NFL channel in the summer of 2019, so that’s way before anyone had even heard about Covid-19.

“Even though we sell out those games, only a small percentage of our UK fanbase actually get to experience the games in person. “But it’s also worth remembering that that is for a single month during the year. “The international games play a key role for us in fan development and fan engagement, particularly in the UK where we have so many games,” he continues. Rob Ryan and break down how the Steelers pinched a play off the Browns… ��What are coaches doing at home? Watching Sky Sports of course!�� Pabari says the NFL’s new broadcast deals in the UK – which also include a reunion with commercial network Channel 5 – have been in the pipeline for some time, and now present an ideal mix of premium and free-to-air (FTA) games for blooding new fans. On the contrary, while the focus has centred on getting the 2020 season up and running domestically, the NFL has sought to expand its media offerings in key European markets.Īmong the most notable moves made this year is a five-year extension to its partnership with pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports, which includes the launch of the league’s own dedicated channel and which will, according to Pabari, serve as a key mechanism for growing its UK fanbase. In the five months since the NFL cancelled this year’s international games – including its annual fixture in Mexico City – it would have been ill-advised for the league to rest on its laurels. I don’t think anyone can predict how is going to continue to impact society as a whole, but particularly the sporting sector.” Rising tide “What we’ve learnt, and has helped us reinforce the philosophy that we’ve adopted for the season, is to be flexible and agile.

Sports insights nfl full#

“The draft was a really good example of how we switched tack from hosting a full on live event and hosting close to a million people in Las Vegas, and working hand in glove with ESPN, one of our key media partners in the US, to completely reconfigure what the draft looks like. In the meantime, the aim is to continue to execute against our overall fan engagement strategy, which centres on the great work that we and our media partners do.

“We’re 100 per cent committed to bringing the games back. “Clearly, it was the right decision to take,” he tells SportsPro. Reflecting on the decision, Sameer Pabari, the NFL’s managing director of international media, says that the league made the call quickly after consulting the UK government and local health authorities. The Los Angeles Rams, pictured, defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24-10 at Wembley Stadium last year Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner, moved in May to confirm that this year’s scheduled London Games would not be going ahead, with a return to international markets pushed back to 2021. Nevertheless, with restrictions to global travel effectively grounding the NFL this season, the league is still vying to grow its audiences overseas. In April, the NFL became the first of North America’s major leagues to host its annual draft remotely, and despite recent postponements to games since its season start in September, the organisation has found a way to welcome back fans to stadia in states where limited gatherings are permitted. The worst, it could be argued, fell during the NFL’s offseason, though the pandemic is still causing havoc seven months later. The NFL did not feel the immediate impact of the coronavirus that brought the sporting calendar to a grinding halt in mid-March. With the 2020 NFL season well into its second month, the climate a year on is very different, to say the least.

Sports insights nfl series#

Two earlier games at Tottenham Hotspur’s new US$1 billion stadium saw combined attendances for the 2019 NFL London Series come close to 300,000, a figure which illustrates the appetite for American football amongst the British public. Last year, the home of English soccer hosted the National Football League (NFL) for its 13th consecutive season, with the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans earning victories during their respective stays in the UK capital.

As the nights grow longer and temperatures begin to tumble, The Star Spangled Banner usually rings out around London’s Wembley Stadium during two weekends beginning every October.