NFL And Sky Sports Unveil ‘Sky Sports NFL’ Channel, Extends Exclusive Ascot Rights
August 13, 2020
Sky and the NFL have agreed a new five-year deal to broadcast the NFL, and for the first time ever the league will partner with an international broadcaster to launch a channel dedicated to the sport.
The agreement marks the 25th anniversary of live NFL coverage on Sky Sports and will see ‘Sky Sports NFL’ launching from September 3 ahead of the 2020 season, which kicks off on September 10.
The brand new in-season channel will be the round-the-clock home of the NFL on television in the UK and Republic of Ireland from the regular season through to the playoffs, with Super Bowl LV live from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on February 7.
Sky Sports NFL viewers can look forward to the following:
- Minimum of five live games each week
- First-pick exclusive game on Sky Sports NFL in the 6pm and 9pm slot every Sunday
- Every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night Football
- NFL RedZone
- Every minute of every playoff game, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl live
- Flagship programming from NFL Network, including the popular Good Morning Football and Total Access shows
- Award-winning documentaries and other content from NFL Films and NBC Sports
- Brand new weekly shows to review the action and discuss the stories of the league, including original Sky Sports programming
- Increased coverage across Sky Sports News, Digital and Social platforms
- And much more…
“Sky Sports has been a fantastic broadcast partner for a quarter of a century,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “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.”
Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive Officer, Sky UK & Europe said: “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.
“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 NFL for another five years.”
Sky Sports Racing Extends Exclusive Ascot Pay TV Rights Until 2024
Ascot Racecourse and At The Races today announce that they have agreed to extend their partnership on domestic pay TV and digital platforms. The new agreement covering non-terrestrial television in the UK & Ireland will see Sky Sports Racing broadcast live coverage from all of Ascot’s 25 annual fixtures until at least 2024.
At The Races will continue to manage licensing and distribution of Ascot races for live streaming to UK betting operators under a separate long-term agreement.
The renewal with Ascot is a further boost to Sky Sports Racing’s global rights portfolio which includes the Breeders’ Cup, Kentucky Derby, Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Longines Hong Kong International Races and Melbourne Cup Carnival as well as over 700 domestic fixtures including the St Leger Festival, Boodles Chester May Festival and Coral Welsh Grand National.
Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Ascot, said: “We have developed an excellent partnership with the whole team at Sky Sports Racing since re-joining the refreshed channel last year. The growth in their audiences across our time as our Pay TV partner has supported our desire to bring Ascot and all our annual racing to a broader, wider consumer base alongside our Terrestrial partner ITV; reaching new audiences is an important part of our brand strategy.
Alongside the excellent racing broadcast we benefit from the strong digital audiences with attheraces.com and the broader promotional support from the Sky Sports portfolio. It is a huge pleasure to be announcing this extension to the end of 2023 prior to my departure from Ascot.”
Rob Webster, Managing Director, Sky Sports, said: “We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with Ascot Racecourse for an additional three years. Sky Sports has supported horse racing for over two decades and it’s a sport we’re very passionate about. Sky Sports Racing continues to provide a platform for the best of international horse racing and meetings from Ascot Racecourse are a key part of our offering to our customers.”
Matthew Imi, Chief Executive, At The Races, added: “Sky Sports Racing has been a real success in just a year and a half and our partnership with Ascot Racecourse has been an important factor. 3.3m UK viewers tuned into the channel between April and June and over 1.9m on average each month this year, despite the obvious impact of Covid-19 on domestic racing.
We have helped Ascot grow some of its key media rights revenues in a short time and we will continue to use our pay TV and digital platform as well as the support of Sky Sports and Sky Sports News to drive profile and exposure for all Ascot events.”