Why the NFL left the BBC for ITV

The NFL agreed a three-year broadcast deal with ITV this summer, moving some of its free-to-air rights to the commercial broadcaster from the BBC.

ITV lines up alongside Channel 5 and Sky Sports as the NFL’s broadcast partners in the UK, as well as its OTT platform Game Pass. ITV’s rights include the Super Bowl, the NFL’s UK-based games, and a weekly highlights show.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports broadcasts the vast majority of games as the pay-TV home of the competition, and Channel 5 shows Monday Night Football as well as an NFL End Zone show on Sunday mornings.

NFL managing director for international media Sameer Pabari told Broadcast Sport why the competition has made the move to ITV, as well as its plans going forward.

“The BBC was a great partner who was keen to renew. Lot’s of free-to-air broadcasters wanted to work with us, so it was very competitive,” Pabari explained. “ITV had a a particularly compelling pitch. This included improved scheduling, which will help to make it more of an appointment to view, and keeping the same hosts, Osi [Umenyiora] and Jase [Jason Bell], who are a fantastic duo with great chemistry.”

He added: “The deal also has a lot more editorial control for NFL – which helps us to reinforce the brand and target a youthful audience - and an increase in fees, which is being reinvested into more content, not just for ITV, but also our digital and social outlets with a focus on future fans. Also, ITV being a commercial broadcaster, it gives an additional platform for our sponsors to associate with the brand.”

However, this shouldn’t be the end of the relationship between the BBC and NFL, with Pabari revealing that, “we hope to renew our deal with the BBC for live audio and clipping rights.”

Pabari, who spoke to Broadcast Sport last year about how the NFL sees its broadcast partners as a pipeline to acquire fans and then give them options to grow their love of the game, pointed to the importance of editorial control for the NFL - which likes to take a hands on role with how its rights are used. For example, he mentioned that it was a “conscious decision” to change the Sky Sports presentation team recently, and that the NFL is “constantly thinking of ways to improve content with all our partners,” adding, “if we get it right with partners, it’s a rising tide that lifts all boats.”

This approach has seen success, with Sky audiences up 20% year-on-year, and Channel 5 attracting a younger demographic to the game: “Channel 5 is interesting with the game being on Sky at the same time, but it has played a part in growing the audience, with a very different audience to Sky. It actually has the youngest age demo of all our partners – about 40% of its viewers are under 18.”

With this, as well as packed houses for the UK-based games at the 60,000+ capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this month, Pabari sums up that the sport, “is mainstream now [in the UK] thanks to our large presence here, but we still have a huge amount of potential to grow further.”