NFL Network Inks One-Year Deal With AF1 To Broadcast Games

The upstart AF1 has signed a TV deal with NFL Network, "giving the nascent indoor football league an instant dose of credibility," according to Lombardo & Ourand of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The deal is a one-year agreement, "with another one-year option." Terms of the deal "call for AF1 to sell the advertising inventory, with the indoor league and the NFL Network evenly splitting all revenue." The NFL Network "will provide the on-air talent," and the league’s games will air "live on Friday nights" from 8:00-11:00pm ET beginning April 2 through the league’s championship game in late August. The AF1 game on April 23 "will be pre-empted by the network’s" coverage of the NFL Draft. NFL Network VP/Programming Charles Coplin said, "We embrace football at all levels. This spring schedule gives us a weekly live game featuring some players who may eventually play in the NFL." Lombardo & Ourand note NFL Network also was "attracted by the AF1's spring schedule, which comes at a relatively down time for the NFL, with no live games." Coplin said AF1 is "playing at a time where it made perfect sense for our schedule." He added, "The programming made sense to us. The economics made sense to us. It's not indicative of a larger or broader relationship" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/8 issue).

SIGNING OFF? Sources said that Warren Sapp "will no longer be an analyst for NFL Network following his arrest Saturday." Sapp was "scheduled to be part of" the network's Super Bowl XLIV coverage yesterday. Police said that Sapp was arrested "after an alleged domestic violence incident at a Miami Beach hotel." Sapp also serves as an analyst for Showtime's "Inside the NFL," and the network "has not issued a statement thus far" (FANHOUSE.com, 2/6).