NFL Crosses Atlantic With New British Channel on Sky Sports

The NFL is bolstering its presence in the British Isles with the Sky Sports NFL channel, which will debut on Sept. 3. The new five-year agreement marks the first dedicated NFL network to launch internationally.

Sky, which is a subscription channel in the U.K. and Ireland, has provided some NFL coverage for 25 years. Sky Sports NFL will broadcast at least five live games per week, including the U.S. primetime games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights. Also included in the deal: the NFL RedZone channel, every playoff game, and other shoulder programming from NFL Network, NFL Films and NBC Sports. (Comcast, which owns NBC, acquired Sky for $39 billion in 2018.)

The NFL has played 28 regular season games in London over the past 13 years while developing a flag football league and an NFL Academy overseas. This year's regular season originally had five international games scheduled (four in London and one in Mexico City), but those will be played stateside due to the coronavirus.