NFL on Sky TV?

TheHeadhunter · 06-08-2009 12:49am #1

Any news on the tv deal have sky got it sorted yet or what? ESPN are involved now in the european market so that could spell a little trouble for sky. Anyone know anything?

Sea Devils · 06-08-2009 9:07am

Apparently it's all going to be announced today.

Royal Seahawk · 06-08-2009 5:01pm

Any word?

Sea Devils · 06-08-2009 5:14pm

Nothing yet

Sea Devils · 06-08-2009 6:17pm

Well we're not getting the preseason anyway that much has been confirmed.

Max Power1 · 06-08-2009 6:57pm

pretty much a "we have no news" announcement over on nfluk.

Its not exactly looking promising.

Alistair Kirkwood on nfluk.com wrote:

At the start of the year, one of our objectives at NFL UK was to complete the 2009 TV contracts early and communicate them to fans promptly. Sadly this has not been achieved – partly given the challenging nature of negotiations and partly due to the aim of providing the best possible outcome for everybody. I appreciate the frustration that must be felt by the lack of information and apologise that we haven’t been able to do a better job of alleviating it.

The broadcast landscape has changed since our TV rights were last up for renewal. A combination of the international economy, as well as the shifting sands of the broadcasters, has meant that several curve balls have been thrown over the past few months. As yet, the contracts for the 2009 season have not been totally finalized, and until they are, we are not at liberty to announce anything concrete. Suffice to say that we will have this completed in the next two to three weeks, and the first place you will hear about these finalized deals will be here on nfluk.com.

I can tell you that, despite the difficulty of negotiations, some advances in our broadcast situation have been made, which I think will be exciting to fans here. Having said that, with the economy and TV landscape in mind, we have also seen some elements of our presence on British television disappear – the first casualty of which is the preseason, which will not be shown this season on Sky Sports.

Looked at as a whole picture, I think you’ll see that the sport is in a better situation once these contracts are signed and sealed. I think a top line view is that we have probably taken three steps forward and a couple of steps back. However, it is apparent for us as fans of a relatively niche sport with plenty of growing still to do, we have no ‘divine right’ to expect wall-to-wall coverage of the NFL in the UK.

Over the next two to three weeks, in addition to the announcement of the TV broadcast contracts, you can expect some other exciting announcements to come from NFLUK.com. We will have finalized ticket sales dates for the final part of the sales process for this year’s International Series game at Wembley. We will also have information on a very new, and exciting Tailgate Party concept that will bring some major attractions for hardcore NFL Fans. We also have a brand new website that will stand alongside NFLUK.com featuring 600+ pieces of exclusive tailored video content. As the season approaches, it will also be time to launch this year’s new Fantasy Football competition, as well as some other new interactive elements for this website.

Thanks as always for your ongoing support and of this website. It never goes unnoticed and is truly appreciated.

Alistair Kirkwood

Leslie91 · 07-08-2009 4:22pm

Sea Devils wrote: »

Well we're not getting the preseason anyway that much has been confirmed.

No loss really. Preseason is a rip off. Best avoided.

Looks like it will be gamepass HD again this year for me.

Sea Devils · 07-08-2009 4:39pm

Yeah not too bothered about preseason not being televised either. Still the one quote that bothers me in that statement.

we have no ‘divine right’ to expect wall-to-wall coverage of the NFL in the UK

To me that possibly shows that there could be a reduction in coverage either on Sky or the BBC one way or another.

Leslie91 · 07-08-2009 5:24pm

Sea Devils wrote: »

Yeah not too bothered about preseason not being televised either. Still the one quote that bothers me in that statement.

To me that possibly shows that there could be a reduction in coverage either on Sky or the BBC one way or another.

Yeah...... seems like we were kinda spoiled the last couple of years. Not that I had Sky but getting 3 games on a sunday and the monday nighter was unreal. Their studio presentation needs to be better/improved though no doubt about it.

cooker3 · 08-08-2009 4:32pm

Sea Devils wrote: »

Yeah not too bothered about preseason not being televised either. Still the one quote that bothers me in that statement.

To me that possibly shows that there could be a reduction in coverage either on Sky or the BBC one way or another.

Yeah, that's what it seems like to me which would be a shame.

Dodge · 10-08-2009 12:57am

Leslie91 wrote: »

Yeah...... seems like we were kinda spoiled the last couple of years. Not that I had Sky but getting 3 games on a sunday and the monday nighter was unreal. Their studio presentation needs to be better/improved though no doubt about it.

Nick Halling was doing The Foorball league Show on BBC on saturday night. No idea how this relates to his NFL braodcating career but presenters don't usually double job between Sky and BBC

Sea Devils · 10-08-2009 9:20am

Dodge wrote: »

Nick Halling was doing The Foorball league Show on BBC on saturday night. No idea how this relates to his NFL braodcating career but presenters don't usually double job between Sky and BBC

Hasn't Halling done work for other Channels e.g. the NHL on Five as well as narrating Goalisimo on Channel 4.?

I don't know if I'd read too much into that.

Dodge · 10-08-2009 10:40am

BBC don't usually share reporters though.

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 2:12pm

Dodge wrote: »

BBC don't usually share reporters though.

Changing times maybe? He could be doing contract work and maybe has a clause that says he can't do the same sport on one of the Beebs competitors. Who knows though lets hope NFL comes back I really dont want to have to watch all my games online

Peyton Manning · 10-08-2009 2:36pm

Guys, was thinking of getting Sky HD for the new apartment this year, but if Sky dont have NFL theres no way I will. What are the chances of Sky showing it again this year? Also, does the ESPN being offered by Sky (an additional £9/€11 a month I think) show any matches?

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 3:01pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Guys, was thinking of getting Sky HD for the new apartment this year, but if Sky dont have NFL theres no way I will. What are the chances of Sky showing it again this year? Also, does the ESPN being offered by Sky (an additional £9/€11 a month I think) show any matches?

ESPN not yet. But Id say both Sky and ESPN will both show some this year. Sky are not going to lose the whole thing they most likely just wont show as many as they did.

Peyton Manning · 10-08-2009 3:03pm

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

ESPN not yet. But Id say both Sky and ESPN will both show some this year. Sky are not going to lose the whole thing they most likely just wont show as many as they did.

Cool. From what Ive been reading, it looks likely that this years rights will be split between Sky and ESPN. Do you think together they will show the same amount as Sky did on their own last year?

Also, does anybody know how many of the matches Sky show are in HD, and whether ESPN would offer any of their matches (assuming they get them) in HD?

Sea Devils · 10-08-2009 3:06pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Guys, was thinking of getting Sky HD for the new apartment this year, but if Sky dont have NFL theres no way I will. What are the chances of Sky showing it again this year? Also, does the ESPN being offered by Sky (an additional £9/€11 a month I think) show any matches?

I think it's a gurantee Sky will get coverage this year but my opinion on it is that they might not show the SNF and MNF games and ESPN could show them instead. In two or three weeks everything will be announced however.

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 3:08pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Also, does anybody know how many of the matches Sky show are in HD, and whether ESPN would offer any of their matches (assuming they get them) in HD?

HD Sky show the 2 main games i.e 6pm and 9pm one. Im not sure about the SNF or MNF ones though.

ESPN have a HD channel on the Sky box and plan to show Premier League football in HD so you would imagine IF they get the SNF and MNF games they will show them in HD.

Peyton Manning · 10-08-2009 3:11pm

Awesome. Thanks for the info guys.

Dodge · 10-08-2009 3:14pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Guys, was thinking of getting Sky HD for the new apartment this year, but if Sky dont have NFL theres no way I will. What are the chances of Sky showing it again this year? Also, does the ESPN being offered by Sky (an additional £9/€11 a month I think) show any matches?

Nobody knows yet is the only honest answer.

The rumours are that Sky will show the 6pm, 9pm Sunday games with SNF and MNF going elsewhere (possibly ESPN)

boccy23 · 10-08-2009 3:23pm

That would be an ok result.

Main result for me would be NFL Live and NFL Sunday Countdown back on ESPN. This was a real bummer when Sky flexed their muscles over those shows.

Sea Devils · 10-08-2009 7:07pm

Thats the one thing I miss about coverage here. It was brilliant being able to watch two hours of a pregame show before switching over to Sky for the live games.

namloc1980 · 10-08-2009 9:31pm

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

HD Sky show the 2 main games i.e 6pm and 9pm one. Im not sure about the SNF or MNF ones though.

ESPN have a HD channel on the Sky box and plan to show Premier League football in HD so you would imagine if they get the SNF and MNF games they will show them in HD.

Last years games at 6pm and 9pm were NOT in HD. They were upscaled and were on the Sky HD channels but were definitely not in native HD last year. The MNF games were in HD last year as well as the Conference Championship games and the Superbowl. All other games including SNF were just the bog standard broadcast upscaled.

ESPN have the rights to MNF in the US so if they do get some NFL coverage this year in Europe from Sky it's possible it will be in HD but the tv coverage for 2009 has not been finalised yet.

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 9:38pm

namloc1980 wrote: »

Last years games at 6pm and 9pm were NOT in HD. They were upscaled and were on the Sky HD channels but were definitely not in native HD last year. The MNF games were in HD last year as well as the Conference Championship games and the Superbowl. All other games including SNF were just the bog standard broadcast upscaled.

Having never watched on Sky HD I was unaware as to the quality but I didnt say what quality they were. I clearly said Sky HD showed them. But thank you for clearing that up.

It's not known yet what the tv coverage for 2009 will be.

As well covered in this thread already.

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 9:39pm

namloc1980 wrote: »

ESPN have the rights to MNF in the US so if they do get some NFL coverage this year in Europe from Sky it's possible it will be in HD but the tv coverage for 2009 has not been finalised yet.

Again we already know this and I say IF in my post so why echo what I say?

namloc1980 · 10-08-2009 9:53pm

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Again we already know this and I say IF in my post so why echo what I say?

Oooohhh touchy, touchy. I was pointing out the fact that ESPN have the MNF rights in the USA which would potentially give them a direct HD feed into Europe should they get the rights over here! Just expanding on the point you made with a little more info. Nothing to get upset about!

namloc1980 · 10-08-2009 10:14pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Guys, was thinking of getting Sky HD for the new apartment this year, but if Sky dont have NFL theres no way I will. What are the chances of Sky showing it again this year? Also, does the ESPN being offered by Sky (an additional £9/€11 a month I think) show any matches?

By the way I would highly recommend getting HD as the NFL is superb in HD. It's like night and day going from the regular picture to HD - for that matter all sport in HD is incredible!!

tallaghtoutlaws · 10-08-2009 10:27pm

namloc1980 wrote: »

Oooohhh touchy, touchy. I was pointing out the fact that ESPN have the MNF rights in the USA which would potentially give them a direct HD feed into Europe should they get the rights over here! Just expanding on the point you made with a little more info. Nothing to get upset about!

Had you metioned HD with ESPN when you said they have the rights to Monday Night Football and then played that sentence I wouldn't have said anything but the way you wrote it seems to have echoed exactly what I said. Most guys on here know ESPN have MNF rights hence why I said what I said. And touchy no just stating fact. Again thanks for clearing up the Sky HD thing.

And Im sorry for getting touchy one of those days.

Arthur Daley · 11-08-2009 12:51am

Anyway........ When is the decision on Sky vs ESPN? It can't be a last minute job on 5th September, and people need to know if they are going to fork out their hard earned.

Seems somebody here could be taking the support of somebody else for granted...

tallaghtoutlaws · 11-08-2009 12:52am

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Anyway........ When is the decision on Sky vs ESPN? It can't be a last minute job on 5th September, and people need to know if they are going to fork out their hard earned.

Seems somebody here could be taking the support of somebody else for granted...

Nobody knows.

NFL on Sky TV?

Comments