ITV has nabbed the rights to the NFL from the BBC.
FA Cup and former Sky Sports presenter Laura Woods will be joining Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell when ITV kicks off its new NFL coverage on Friday September 9 with the first in a series of hour-long weekly shows, airing at 11.30pm on ITV.
ITV will air the climax of the season, Super Bowl LVII, live from Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday February 12 2023, as well as two of the season's three London Games.
The New York Giants will face the Green Bay Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday October 9, kicking off at 2.30pm UK time, before the Jacksonville Jaguars host the Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, October 30, kicking off at 1.30pm UK time.
Laura Woods said: "I've been a fan of the NFL for many years, so, with the new season just weeks away, I'm thrilled to be part of the team that will bring ITV viewers its best action and biggest stories each week."
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: "This deal will bring to ITV viewers the very best of the NFL each week in our highlights shows throughout the season as well as key live games. We're delighted to be able to offer viewers, free to air, across our channels as well as the ITV Hub, the unique spectacle and action the NFL brings."
Henry Hodgson, Managing Director, NFL UK, said: "This is another significant milestone for the NFL in this country. We have enjoyed seven fantastic years of NFL coverage on BBC TV and the time is right to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a new partnership with ITV. When you look at the development of the NFL in the UK in recent years – with momentum behind fan growth, more London games, successful British players in the NFL, the launch of an Academy and a charitable foundation – this announcement is another sign of our ambition to grow and develop the sport in the UK."
Laura Louisy, Director, International Business Development and Media, said: "We're excited to announce this new partnership with ITV which, with the new and enhanced weekly Friday evening shows and live coverage of London Games and Super Bowl, will take the NFL's free to air coverage into a new era and reach a new audience across ITV's channels, to showcase to the UK what the NFL is all about: passion, unpredictable competition and exceptional entertainment."
The new partnership marks the NFL's return to ITV for the first time since the network aired the last of its three consecutive Super Bowls in 2007.
The weekly ITV show will focus on providing NFL fans, new and old, with an update on everything they need to know heading into each weekend of NFL games. The show will also be repeated at 8.30am on Saturdays on ITV4 and will be available on ITV Hub.
Thank God the ITV Hub is being replaced by the (hopefully) better ITVX before the end of 2022, but that doesn't help right now. I look forward to sitting through 15 minutes of adverts that I'll have to rewatch twice because the app will inevitably crash, coupled with sub-optimal picture quality. Or catch it on ITV4, in glorious VHS-o-vision.
ITV seems to love this late-late slot for pre-recored sports, because A) it's cheap B) it rates very well for that time of night and C) also plays extremely well on-demand on the ITV Hub, from people that in all honesty probably wouldn't normally touch the ITV Hub with a ten foot barge pole.
