NFL Network

NFL Network is an American sports television network that focuses on American football. It is owned by NFL Media, a joint venture between ESPN and the NFL. The network shows NFL games, analysis programs, specials, and documentaries.

The network is based in the NFL Los Angeles building next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. It broadcasts from Atlanta, Georgia, with additional facilities in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

As of June 2023, NFL Network reached about 51.5 million homes in the United States. This number has dropped from around 71.1 million homes in February 2015 because fewer people are using traditional cable TV.

In 2026, ESPN completed its acquisition of NFL Network and other NFL media assets after getting approval from U.S. regulators.

History

NFL Network started on November 4, 2003, after the owners of the league's 32 teams agreed to create it. It was first based in Culver City, California, and the league spent $100 million to get it going. NFL Films helped provide exciting game footage for the network.

From the 2006 season, NFL Network began showing eight NFL games every Thursday night, called Thursday Night Football. It also covers the NFL draft and other special events. In 2021, the network moved to a new space near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Starting in 2025, NFL Network was bought by ESPN. Government approval came in January 2026, and by April that year, NFL Network employees became part of ESPN. Some changes happened, but some special NFL programming would continue.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by NFL Network

NFL game telecasts

NFL Network started showing its own football games in 2006 with a special set of games called Run to the Playoffs. These games were shown on Thursday and Saturday nights and were called Thursday Night Football and Saturday Night Football. Over time, most Saturday games stopped, and all games became Thursday Night Football starting in 2009. By the 2012 season, Thursday Night Football grew to include a weekly game from Weeks 2 through 15, plus one Saturday night game in Week 16. This means every NFL team appears in at least one special nationally televised game each season.

Like Monday Night Football on ESPN, NFL Network games are also shown on local TV stations in the areas of the teams playing. Before 2015, these games could only be shown locally if all tickets sold out a few days before the game.

When Thursday Night Football first started, Bryant Gumbel was the main announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the expert commentator. Collinsworth even won an Emmy award for his work. Other commentators like Dick Vermeil, Marshall Faulk, and Deion Sanders helped out when needed.

In later years, CBS, NBC, and Fox took turns helping produce Thursday Night Football. Then, starting in 2022, Amazon Prime Video took over. NFL Network now shows international games and some Saturday games instead. For the 2026 season, NFL Network will show five international games and a doubleheader in Week 16.

Preseason coverage

NFL Network shows all 65 preseason games each August. Some games are shown live, but most are shown later using recordings from the teams’ local broadcasts. When a game is shown live on NFL Network, it is not shown in the local areas of the teams playing, where it is shown on a local station instead.

Studio shows

During the week, on Saturdays and Sundays when there are no football games, Good Morning Football is shown live from 7–10 am ET, with a repeat from 10 am–1 pm ET.

On Sundays during the football season, there are several pre-game and post-game shows, including NFL GameDay Morning, NFL GameDay Live, NFL GameDay Highlights, NFL GameDay Prime, and NFL GameDay Final. On Thursdays, Mondays, and whenever NFL Network shows a game, there is a show called NFL GameDay Kickoff two hours before the game, followed by coverage during the game and a final show after.

Other football

Arena Football League

NFL Network showed games from the Arena Football League from 2010 to 2012. They broadcast a weekly Friday Night Football game during the regular season and playoff games. However, NFL Network stopped showing these games partway through the 2012 season due to problems within the league.

In March 2024, NFL Network planned to show games from the revived Arena Football League but faced issues.

College football

Further information: College Football on NFL Network

In 2006, NFL Network began showing some college football bowl games, including the Texas Bowl and the Senior Bowl. They also showed games from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), like the Circle City Classic. Later, NFL Network showed a weekly college football game from Conference USA but stopped after one season.

Since 2019, NFL Network has shown the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic, a game featuring HBCU teams. They also show the HBCU Legacy Bowl, an all-star game for HBCU players.

In the 2022 season, NFL Network returned to showing regular college football games through an agreement with ESPN, mainly featuring mid-major conferences like the Sun Belt Conference.

High school football

NFL Network showed two high school all-star games in June 2007: the Bayou Bowl between players from Texas and Louisiana, and the Big 33 Football Classic between players from Pennsylvania and Ohio.

In the 2023 off-season, NFL Network showed delayed games from the 7-on-7 Overtime’s football league (OT7). In 2024, they had live coverage of OT7’s regular season.

Canadian Football League

In 2010, NFL Network began showing live Canadian Football League games from TSN. They showed Thursday games, three Saturday games in July, and Friday night games starting in September. However, NFL Network did not show playoff games or the Grey Cup championship, as those were played on Sundays during NFL games and were shown on ESPN3 instead. In 2012, NFL Network stopped showing CFL games, and the rights went to NBC Sports Network and then ESPN.

NFL Network wanted to show CFL games again in 2019 but needed the league to change its schedule, which did not happen. So, the CFL renewed its agreement with ESPN.

Alliance of American Football

In 2019, NFL Network signed a deal to show Alliance of American Football games, airing two games per week on Saturdays and Sundays. The league folded midway through its first season.

United Football League

On March 17, 2026, the United Football League announced that selected ESPN-produced games in its 2026 season would air on NFL Network, starting with the Birmingham Stallions at the Houston Gamblers on April 5, 2026.

High definition

NFL Network HD is a special version of the NFL Network that shows clearer pictures. It started in August 2004 and can be seen on satellite services like DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as on cable services such as Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, Comcast, and Cogeco.

In October 2008, some shows got better with extra scores and stats on the side for HD viewers. By May 2009, NFL Total Access started showing in full HD without black bars. Most places stopped showing the regular version of the channel in July 2012.

NFL RedZone channel

Main article: NFL RedZone

The NFL RedZone channel is a special channel that is only on Sundays during the regular season, from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time). It shows live games from CBS and Fox. When a team is about to score, the channel shows that game live. Scott Hanson hosts the channel. This channel used to only be on DirecTV as part of NFL Sunday Ticket until 2022.

Since 2016, NFL Network has shown reruns of NFL RedZone from past seasons every Sunday during the offseason.

International distribution

NFL Network is watched in many countries. In Canada, it was approved for TV providers in 2004, but some games are shown on other networks like Bell Media, TSN, and CTV/CTV 2. Since 2017, it is also part of DAZN's NFL Game Pass service there.

In the United Kingdom, NFL Network programming is on Sky Sports, including shows like Good Morning Football and NFL Total Access, as well as NFL Red Zone. In Germany, NFL Network is available through DAZN since 2017. In Brazil, NFL Network is on NFL GamePass Free Tier, and NFL RedZone is on the Pro Tier.

Carriage and distribution complications

The start of the Thursday Night Football games made NFL Network want to be on cheaper TV packages. Big cable companies like Time Warner Cable wanted to put it on a sports package instead. They thought a channel with few live games and extra shows would be hard to sell outside football season.

In 2006, NFL Network offered a free preview to some customers, but not all companies agreed to show it. In 2007, there was talk about games with popular teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, which many fans couldn’t see because of these issues. Another big moment came when the NFL worked with NBC and CBS to show an important game on multiple networks so everyone could watch.

Later, NFL Network had disputes with companies like Comcast and Dish Network over where the channel should be placed and how much it should cost. These disagreements sometimes led to the channel being moved to higher-priced packages or even removed temporarily. Over time, many companies reached agreements to carry NFL Network, though some fights continued for years.

Carriage disputes

Cablevision

In 2004, the NFL Network decided not to be shown on Cablevision. But by 2006, they solved their problem, and the network started showing on Cablevision again.