ESPN and the NFL have announced a new expanded rights deal in Australia and New Zealand.
The NFL season kicks off Friday, September 6 at 10:15am AEST.
Under the new deal, ESPN will air 5 games per week during the regular season (all US times), including 2 games on Sunday afternoon, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football. ESPN will also air all Thanksgiving Day games, all Postseason games (including Wild Card games, Divisional Round, Conference Championships), the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, resulting in an additional 36 games compared to the 2018/19 season.
ESPN will also launch a special NFL edition of SportsCenter Australia, hosted by Phil Murphy, Trevor Scales, and Mark Brown and airing immediately before Sunday Night Football, which will recap all the highlights from all the Sunday afternoon games.
Following on last year’s success, ESPN will again produce a live broadcast of Super Bowl LIVE specifically for Australia & New Zealand viewers. The game will be called by ESPN Monday Night Football’s team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland with Lisa Salters on the sidelines.
The season kicks off when the Green Bay Packers take on the Chicago Bears on Friday, September 6 at 10:15am AEST LIVE on ESPN and the ESPN App. ESPN will have a digital linear simulcast of the live games via the ESPN app and affiliate streaming services.
“We’re thrilled to be expanding our NFL coverage and bringing fans more games than ever before. The appetite for NFL is growing, and with plenty of prominent Aussies in the NFL, Valentine Holmes, Lachlan Edwards, Mitch Wishnowsky, Adam Gotsis, there are so many great local stories to follow!” said Haydn Arndt, ESPN ANZ General Manager.
ESPN’s NFL studios show’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live (daily) and NFL Primetime (weekly) are all back this year with some of the best analysts, hosts and reporters in the business to serves fans with all the best game around the game coverage.
Documentary series ‘Hard Knocks’ kicks off its 14th season. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Oakland Raiders gives an unfiltered all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League. The 18-time Sports Emmy Award winning series will follow head coach Jon Gruden leading a mix of established veterans, free-agent additions and highly regarded rookie hopefuls throughout the training camp and the preseason.
NFL Films will also continue this year to bring fans weekly NFL Films Presents and NFL Greatest Games.
