The first NFL Sunday of the year is upon us. With that brings some changes to NFL RedZone this season after ESPN reached a deal to distribute the program.
Earlier this week, host Scott Hanson announced that "seven hours of commercial-free football" won't be accurate any longer as the show will now include brief commercials airing in a separate box while the action remains on screen. After Hanson's announcement which caused a frenzy among fans, the NFL issued a reminder via Sportico that it had already been testing ads that run alongside its RedZone coverage, utilizing them last December. The league said that the ads, which will include 10-15 seconds of commercial audio, is unrelated to the league's pending transaction with ESPN via The Athletic's Richard Deitsch.
