Comments on: NFL has no TV deal in England

By: footballer4ever

footballer4ever — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 17:30:26 +0000

NFL is so intere$ted to make the game “global” that it forgets or ASSumes because it’s American that everyone will fall in love with it no matter what. go on! Put a franchise there at any cost and you’ll be called the NASL of England (lol)

By: londonbengal

londonbengal — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:06:01 +0000

Got ‘Gamepass’. I can watch any game I want, when I want, live or recorded. Perfect television.

I’m good to go…..

I just wish someone would shoot that bearded guy in the blue suit doing the ‘Thursday Night Football’ ads. That dude is reaaly getting on my nerves. I’m just waiting for Mike Curtis to enter stage left and level him……

By: freshwatergamefish

freshwatergamefish — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:42:38 +0000

The NFL doesn’t have it’s usual leverage? This sounds similar to the NHL when it tries to ram hockey down Americas throat. Maybe the majority in the UK don’t want/need NFL football.

By: cylondetector

cylondetector — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:12:47 +0000

Don’t understand why any UK-based fan isn’t grabbing themselves the NFL gamepass – all the games live (not just 2/3 that Sky select) – plus you can watch any other games of interest later.
Love the condensed format also – takes about 20 mins to watch every snap with all the junk removed.
£99 is a bargain.

By: johnnytarr

johnnytarr — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:48:52 +0000

NFL in Europe– you can lead a horse to water ……..

By: realitypolice

realitypolice — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:38:31 +0000

If they can’t get money from TV rights in England, maybe the hypocritical NFL can take a cut of the legal gambling on the game that will be going on all over the UK, probably even right outside the stadium where the game is being played.

All while pursuing a federal lawsuit against a state that is trying to help it’s economy.

By: stantonwaro

stantonwaro — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:20:01 +0000

Gamepass is brilliant, Sky is very expensive and the blackouts are really really annoying – I really hope we now get Gamepass for every game, I had actually cancelled my subscription last year because of the blackouts. Fingers crossed.

By: weneedlinemen42

weneedlinemen42 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:17:22 +0000

The UK doesn’t have a large enough fan base to sustain a franchise.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable and passionate fans over here, tens of thousands of us, but that is it.

Wembley fills out once a year because it is still a novelty. It is still seen as an event, something that parents might take their kids to so that can experience American razmataz. The press still treat it that way, look at the Americans with their big pads and flashy ways. Then by an large they forget about the NFL. It gets relegated to a tiny column buried deep in the sports pages, if you’re lucky. Most media outlets completely ignore the regular season.

A couple of years ago the opening game of the season drew just over 10,000 views to Sky. That live game, the first after a long off-season with no football, drew fewer viewers than delayed highlights of Spanish soccer on another of Sky’s channels.

For one season, Sky decided to show pre-season games, but after that they’ve been steadily cutting back their coverage. Live regular season football was getting beaten by televised darts in the ratings. Given the economic climate Sky aren’t going to spend the sort of cash the NFL demands to show a sport that only a small hardcore of fans watch.

The NFL completely missed the boat. They got off to a really good start in the 80′s then threw it away by allowing coverage to move from free to air channels to Sky’s subscription based service before there was a big enough fan base to sustain it.

Philosophically, I am against moving a team to the UK but even if I wasn’t it is way, way too soon. The NFL needs to stop selling coverage and start giving it away to free to air outlets. If needs be, they should buy air-time. Exporting games over here is like throwing seeds on stoney ground. The NFL needs to go right back to square one, and build back some awareness of the sport first.

By: ihateravens

ihateravens — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:16:29 +0000

Wasn’t Egar Allen Poe from England? If so; we all believe you should have the Ravens as your team.

By: thewizardofbs

thewizardofbs — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:15:22 +0000

They already have football in england except they play it with a round white ball and no pads. Oh, and they spell it different.

By: orthomarine

orthomarine — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:46:24 +0000

I’m all for a UK team…. The NFL is a worldwide phenominon

By: 51ststateuk

51ststateuk — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:05:38 +0000

Im sick of bloody Americans saying we cant have a team here.
Its going to happen, deal with it.
The NFL Network should be shown here and Sky should have a dedicated channel like the F1 Channel.
I dont know how people can complain about the coverage, we used to have to listen to games on Armed Forces radio, now we have live games and a regular season game here.
London Bulldogs baby!

By: mancave001

mancave001 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:05:34 +0000

Lots of Brits here, apparently. “Sacked off” Sky Sports. LOL.

By: stebutt

stebutt — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 12:59:37 +0000

It’s not ‘England’ its ‘The United Kingdom’. I sacked off sky sports this year and signed up for gamepass, so I hope I’m right in saying that ‘I’m alright Jack’. But given the current popularity of the sport over here I’d be amazed if a deal didn’t get done. And no, most UK fans don’t want a permanent UK franchise, it’s a totally stupid idea.

By: knightazure

knightazure — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 12:11:25 +0000

As a fan in England, I’m glad. I’m not going to subscribe to Sky Sports for a year just to watch a couple of games a week. I can already subscribe to GamePass and watch most games, but it is really annoying to be unable to watch the games you want to because they are shown on Sky and therefore blacked out on GamePass.
The absence of a deal between the NFL and Sky Sports might reduce exposure to people who haven’t seen the sport yet, but it’s good news for those of us who have the NFL’s GamePass, and might encourage more people to subscribe to that.

By: hmpennypacker

hmpennypacker — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 12:03:53 +0000

As a UK fan this is terrible! There’s NO NFL on our screens currently, as ESPN aren’t showing anything on their ESPN America channel over here either. I have no real desire to see a franchise in the UK as this is a national sport and should stay in the US for that reason. I JUST WANT TO SEE SOME DAMNED FOOTBALL!!!

FYI the 9ers WILL win it all this year. LaMichael James if going to be the new Darren Sproles.

By: tbtrojan

tbtrojan — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:59:03 +0000

Hopefully Sky doesn’t agree a deal, I swear their coverage is awful and only gets worse with each passing year, not the quantity but the quality.
Now there shouldn’t be any blackout on Gamepass that I got so I never had to see Kevin Cadle again.

By: apac6586

apac6586 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:53:11 +0000

Good. We don’t need football over there anyway. Is there anyone from England that even wants an NFL team?

By: sepl12

sepl12 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:52:42 +0000

They have to get this deal done! Most of my websites stream from sky sports. Without a deal here I might have to purchase cable, a completely unacceptable option.

By: ff56101

ff56101 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:49:48 +0000

Are the Channel 4 games still going to be broadcast?

By: suprinelolskins

suprinelolskins — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:46:03 +0000

It gets sorted just before kickoff every year seemingly :/