The National Football League has announced a multi-year contract renewal to grant DIRECTV rights to continue carrying NFL Network on its platforms. Additionally, the agreement adds NFL RedZone to all platforms for the first time, marking a transition since the end of DIRECTV’s Red Zone Channel following Google’s $2 billion annual deal to be the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. Previously, two versions of RedZone took place on Sundays – one from NFL Network hosted by Scott Hanson; and the other from DIRECTV hosted by Andrew Siciliano, who continues to work for NFL Media.
“DIRECTV was an initial launch partner of NFL Network over 20 years ago, and we’re thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership which caters to millions of DIRECTV customers who are NFL fans,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, in a press release. “This renewal will provide fans across all DIRECTV platforms the ability to watch NFL Network’s award-winning coverage of America’s most popular sport while also giving great access to the wildly popular NFL RedZone.”
DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream and U-verse subscribers will soon all have access to both NFL Network and NFL RedZone, a considerable benefit for avid football fans consuming content through the satellite television service. Hanson, who signed a contract extension with NFL Media in 2021, will continue to host NFL RedZone.
“With this agreement, DIRECTV continues a long-standing partnership with the NFL and maintains our sports leadership position by delivering the best of sports content to our customers,” Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV, said in a statement. “This deal strengthens our NFL relationship, as it includes expanded carriage of NFL Network and all the best action from Sunday’s games with NFL RedZone, which is now available to customers across all three DIRECTV platforms.”
A new media rights deal worth approximately $13 billion annually will take command at the start of the 2023 season, along with the launch of NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Other aspects of the deal include flex scheduling for ESPN Monday Night Football and Amazon Prime Video Thursday Night Football; the elimination of conference affiliations with CBS and FOX; and changes in playoff game broadcasters.
NFL games were responsible for 88 of the 100 most-watched television shows among programming last year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. Last season’s Super Bowl was the most-watched NFL championship game of all time, averaging 115.1 million viewers across FOX, FOX Deportes and other digital platforms. The game also holds the distinction for the most-watched television program in American history, underscoring the power of the NFL and its dominance over live and national programming.
