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NFL on Sky Sports, previously known as NFL Special, is Sky Sports' flagship live American football programme, broadcasting live National Football League on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays over the course of a season. It is normally broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event or Sky Sports NFL. As of 2020, the broadcaster will be showing every Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night game live, alongside two Sunday evening games.[1]
| NFL on Sky Sports | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | NFL Special |
| Presented by | Neil Reynolds |
| Starring | Shaun Gayle Jeff Reinebold Rob Ryan |
| Opening theme | NFL on Fox (Scott Schreer, 2013–2018) Wardance (John Ross, 2019-present) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | Variable |
| Original release | |
| Network | Sky Sports |
| Release | 1995 – present |
As of the 2019 season, the show is presented by Neil Reynolds, with Jeff Reinebold, Shaun Gayle and Rob Ryan as regular co-analysts.[1]
Broadcast times
As of the 2019 season, NFL on Sky Sports airs Thursday Night Football, two games on a Sunday evening (kicking off at 6:05pm & 9:25pm), NBC Sunday Night Football (at 1:20am on Monday morning), and Monday Night Football on Tuesday at 1:15am.[1] Highlights from NFL RedZone, which is broadcast on Sky Sports Mix, are shown and commented on by Reynolds and his analysts. An additional game on Sunday may also be shown in the afternoon if live from London.
Until 2015, the programme aired all of the NFL London Games games live from Wembley Stadium, and also offered exclusive live coverage of the playoffs and live coverage of the Super Bowl. Since 2015, they only air a minimum of two London Games, coverage being shared with the BBC.[2] As of the 2019 season, Sky Sports have exclusive coverage of both London Games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the playoffs, whilst live coverage of the Super Bowl is available on both Sky Sports and BBC Sport in the UK.[3]
From the 2015 season, Sky Sports secured live coverage of NBC's Sunday Night Football coverage and ESPN's Monday Night Football, giving Sky live rights to every NFL game during the season for the first time ever.[4] Similarly to Thursday Night Football, Sky Sports uses feeds from the American network to cover the late night Sunday game and the Monday game.
In August 2020, it was confirmed that Sky and the NFL has agreed a new five-year partnership which would see them continue to broadcast games until the end of the 2024 season. It was also confirmed Sky Sports NFL, an in-season rebrand of Sky Sports Action would launch on 3 September 2020.[5]
On-screen Team
It had been presented since its debut by Kevin Cadle, being joined until 2011 by Nick Halling. Neil Reynolds then replaced Halling, and provided analysis alongside a guest analyst. Shaun Gayle is the primary guest analyst during the regular season from September to December, and Jeff Reinebold typically takes over from Gayle as primary analyst during the latter stages of the regular season and the playoffs. Cecil Martin previously served as analyst before being replaced by Gayle for the 2014 season. Previous analysts such as Daryl Johnston and Bradlee Van Pelt have also provided analysis for Sky Sports. However at the start of the 2016–17 season Kevin Cadle announced that he would no longer present the show however he would make occasional appearances, with Dara Kennedy taking over as host. To start the 2017–18 season Reynolds replaced Kennedy as host, and had Shaun Gayle and Corey Wootton as co-analysts. On 16 October 2017 it was announced that the long-time NFL show presenter Kevin Cadle had died at the age of 62.[6]
Reynolds is often joined by guest analysts, such as Rob Ryan, Solomon Wilcots and DeMarcus Ware. In addition, throughout the coverage, Reynolds and the panel will discuss the games through video call with the Around the NFL Podcast Team, including Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler; and journalist Peter King.
Presenters
- 1995–2016: Kevin Cadle
- 1996–2011:[7] Nick Halling
- 2011–present: Neil Reynolds
- 2015–2016: Dara Kennedy
Commentators
NFL on Sky Sports uses the commentary teams from the American networks, including the likes of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, (Amazon Prime Vodeo), Jim Nantz and Tony Romo (CBS), Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, (Fox), Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth (NBC) Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (ESPN).
Production
Between 2013 and 2018, NFL on Sky Sports regularly used elements of U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports' presentation including the theme song,[8] composed by Scott Schreer, and the Cleatus the Robot mascot. 21st Century Fox owned Fox Sports and held a controlling share in Sky during this period. After Sky had been sold to Comcast, the programme's theme music became "Wardance" composed by John Ross. The programme is typically produced from Sky Studios in Osterley.[9] For the Super Bowl, Reynolds and his co-analysts broadcast live from the stadium.
References
- ^ a b c "How to follow the NFL on Sky Sports in 2019/20". Sky Sports. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ "NFL on Sky Sports in 2018/19". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "How to watch NFL in UK: Fixtures, TV and live stream details, Sky Sports, Gamepass, BBC coverage". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ "NFL on Sky Sports: Monday Night Football is part of new five-year agreement". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "NFL and Sky Sports unveil 'Sky Sports NFL' as part of five-year partnership". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Kevin Cadle, former Sky Sports NFL presenter, dies aged 62". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Nick Halling leaves Sky Sports NFL coverage". The Rambles of Neil Monnery. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Sky Sports NFL 2014 Presentation – Sky Sports". TV Newsroom. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Flanagan, Aaron (19 January 2018). "How Sky Sports have helped revolutionise NFL coverage in the UK". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 January 2019.