NFL on Sky TV?

TheHeadhunter

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

Apparently it's all going to be announced today.

Royal Seahawk

Any word?

Sea Devils

Nothing yet

Sea Devils

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

Max Power1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BBC don't usually share reporters though.

tallaghtoutlaws

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

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

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

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

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

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

Awesome. Thanks for the info guys.

Dodge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

UhOh

hopefully ESPN gets the rights to the extra content such as Total Access/Playbook etc. I'm sick off Sky pulling those shows at the last minute because of the Ofcom regualtions/product placement issue.

Hopefully Skys Sunday Night coverage stays as is. Given the economic climate & the fact the NFL is a fringe sport over here Sky probably dont want to shell out what the NFL are looking for price wise.......

Dodge

UhOh wrote: »

hopefully ESPN gets the rights to the extra content such as Total Access/Playbook etc. I'm sick off Sky pulling those shows at the last minute because of the Ofcom regualtions/product placement issue.

You realise that ESPN will be governed by the same regulations?

UhOh

Dodge wrote: »

You realise that ESPN will be governed by the same regulations?

no it won't, ESPN America isnt based in the UK so it wont be affected.....watch any of the US broadcasts they have, product placement left, right & center. As far as I know it operates out of Dublin, hence why it's unaffected

tallaghtoutlaws

UhOh wrote: »

no it won't, ESPN America isnt based in the UK so it wont be affected.....watch any of the US broadcasts they have, product placement left, right & center. As far as I know it operates out of Dublin, hence why it's unaffected

ESPN have setup in the UK now. All operations are due to move to London soon enough. One of my buddies works for setanta and he looked after NASN/ESPN America and he wont be in the next couple of weeks as Setanta lose control of them.

Dodge

UhOh wrote: »

no it won't, ESPN America isnt based in the UK so it wont be affected.....watch any of the US broadcasts they have, product placement left, right & center. As far as I know it operates out of Dublin, hence why it's unaffected

Any broadcastor who uses the sky platform (amongst others) are bound by ofcom's regulations.

death1234567

Hopefully everything will be on Sky like last season, I don't think I'll be able to afford Skysports and ESPN.

SlimJ

So since I haven't yet seen a link for the schedule of games that will be broadcasted, can I assume it's still up in the air?

Second question: Is Busker's still the best bet for watching the games in town? I know The Portobello showed many of the games last year, but if there's kickball on at the same time the football gets relegated to a single fuzzy screen in the back.

Is there anywhere that shows NFL games that isn't sh1t? (no offense to the good people of the aforementioned pubs, of course)

Leslie91

SlimJ wrote: »

So since I haven't yet seen a link for the schedule of games that will be broadcasted, can I assume it's still up in the air?

Second question: Is Busker's still the best bet for watching the games in town? I know The Portobello showed many of the games last year, but if there's kickball on at the same time the football gets relegated to a single fuzzy screen in the back.

Is there anywhere that shows NFL games that isn't sh1t? (no offense to the good people of the aforementioned pubs, of course)

Yeah I'm looking forward to hearing where might b good to watch the games.

tallaghtoutlaws

woolshed or buskers

Leslie91

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

woolshed or buskers

Do 'real' fans actually go to these places to watch the games together?. Do lads wear their colours and all?.

tallaghtoutlaws

Leslie91 wrote: »

Do 'real' fans actually go to these places to watch the games together?. Do lads wear their colours and all?.

Yes to both of them. Alot of the IAFL players go between the two. DCU I think use buskers alot. jdivision will be able to answer that better. I used to go to woolshed alot and always has fans in their gear for games.

Royal Seahawk

Any word on Sky's plans this season yet?

thecross1

its maddness to watch soccer on tv u have to have espn sky or setanta u need to have a lot of cash to follow ur team

Sea Devils

Still no sign of an update. It will all be on the NFLUK home page so it's probably best to keep checking there.

Dodge

thecross1 wrote: »

its maddness to watch soccer on tv u have to have espn sky or setanta u need to have a lot of cash to follow ur team

Thats only if your team is British

Sea Devils

thecross1 wrote: »

its maddness to watch soccer on tv u have to have espn sky or setanta u need to have a lot of cash to follow ur team

Have no idea what following Soccer on TV has to do with this topic.

tallaghtoutlaws

thecross1 wrote: »

its maddness to watch soccer on tv u have to have espn sky or setanta u need to have a lot of cash to follow ur team

Is it? Good man wrong sport :rolleyes:

Sea Devils

Well at least something has been confirmed. Five have come to an agreement to show Sunday Night Football Live.

The Sparrow

Sea Devils wrote: »

Well at least something has been confirmed. Five have come to an agreement to show Sunday Night Football Live.

Yeah which may suck for us unless Sky also show SNF as well. I know we can get Five through Sky but you can't Sky+ it which is a pain if you have work the next morning.

I had hoped that all NFL would be on either Sky or ESPN so that I have the option to Sky+ games that I have to miss.

themont85

The Sparrow wrote: »

Yeah which may suck for us unless Sky also show SNF as well. I know we can get Five through Sky but you can't Sky+ it which is a pain if you have work the next morning.

I had hoped that all NFL would be on either Sky or ESPN so that I have the option to Sky+ games that I have to miss.

Ye it sucks in a way but I'm realived its definately on. A few bad things with it being Five is obviousely the Sky + things and also its not on UPC AFAIK. You would hope that TV3, the 'FTA partner' here would show it like the SB, I mean if it was anything like their SB coverage it would be peanuts in cost but I'm not holding my breath.