ITV have bought the rights to show the National Football League (NFL) for the next three years, which will see them show three live games, including Super Bowl LVII, and a weekly highlights show.
The BBC has been a popular home for NFL coverage, also showing the Superbowl live each year, and a weekly highlights package fronted by Mark Chapman alongside two-time Super Bowl Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell. The ITV coverage will be fronted by Sports Presenter of the Year Laura Woods with Umenyiora and Bell joining her on the rival channel.
The Friday night hour-long highlights show will air at 11.30pm starting on Friday, September 9. The programme will also be repeated at 8.30am on Saturdays on ITV4 and will be available on ITV Hub.
The weekly Friday highlights show begin on September 9, the night after 2022 NFL season kicks off when defending champions Los Angeles Rams take on the Buffalo Bills.
Two of the three games held in London this season will be shown live on ITV. The first of these will be when the New York Giants will face the Green Bay Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 9.
This will be followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium on October 30. As usual the season climax will be Super Bowl LVII, which will be shown live from Glendale in Arizona on February 12.
Henry Hodgson, managing director for NFL UK said: "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.”
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. ITV’s NFL programs will also be broadcast on STV in Scotland and Virgin Media in Ireland, while all shows will be available on demand on ITV Hub, ITV Hub+, STV Player and VM Player.
