Pay-TV heavyweight Sky has signed off on a major rights extension with American football’s NFL ahead of its 2025 season, increasing the league’s coverage in the UK alongside a recently secured free-to-air partnership with Channel 5.
The three-year renewal extends Sky and the NFL’s long-standing relationship, which has stood for over 30 years, and will see the broadcaster continue to air the league across the UK and Ireland.
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Specifically, Sky has retained the first-pick exclusive game on Sunday at 6pm (UK time) live, and the first pick for the Sunday 9pm game and gained three additional games – a second Sunday 6pm game and two games during the Sunday 9pm slot.
The additional games will be shown live concurrently alongside the first pick.
As part of the renewal, Sky has also secured rights to show all NFL games being staged in London (UK) and Europe, including inaugural games in Ireland and Spain, as well as its popular Germany stop.
Jonathan Licht, Sky’s chief sports officer for the UK and Ireland, said: “We’re proud to extend our partnership with the NFL beyond 30 years.
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By GlobalData“The sport continues to grow and captivate UK audiences, which we saw first-hand with record-breaking Super Bowl LVII viewership on Sky Sports. With more games than ever before, we’re excited to offer further value to our customers and continue to bring fans world-class coverage.”
Sky said the new additions represent a near 50% increase in the number of live NFL matches now available across the Sky Sports NFL channel, as well as SS+ and Mix.
Along with live matches, the NFL RedZone program will continue to be shown live on Sky, as well as every Thursday Night, Sunday Night, and Monday Night Football, Thanksgiving games, the Playoffs, and the season-ending Super Bowl.
Gerrit Meier, managing director and head of NFL International, said: “The UK market continues to be a priority for the NFL internationally, as we look to drive fandom and grow the game at every level around the world.
“Sky Sports has been a significant part of the NFL’s growth story in the UK over the years, helping us to reach new audiences and bring fans the very best NFL content, and we are delighted to see our expanded partnership continue.”
Sky’s announcement comes a day after the NFL announced a new multi-year partnership in the UK with media giant Paramount Global for its Channel 5 commercial network to provide FTA coverage of the league for the first time in 20 years.
Under that deal, Channel 5 will have two Sunday evening fixtures per week throughout the regular season via its new NFL: Big Game Night show, which looks to blend its coverage with entertainment segments.
The slate will also include the NFL regular season international games that will take place in London, England, and Dublin, Ireland, in 2025
These games are disseminated by US rightsholder CBS Sports, owned by Paramount, which has facilitated the partnership.
Additionally, Channel 5 will also air three of the league’s annual post-season playoff games and the season-ending Super Bowl, ensuring that the sport’s biggest showcase, a major TV draw in the UK, remains on free-to-air TV.
After Sky and Channel 5, there is potentially one more broadcast partnership in the region to be announced by the NFL.
Speaking to Sportcal earlier in 2025, NFL UK general manager Henry Hodgson indicated there would be as many as three announcements in the territory, adding: “What we're looking for is really, how do we reach as many people as possible on all the right platforms?
“Free-to-air is certainly one [major platform], pay TV is one. We look at some of the streaming platforms and what they're doing now to get sports on board and bring some of their subscribers. We look at things like YouTube as a platform where you can reach a number of people, and, obviously, with some of the amazing creators that are on that platform as well.
“So, I think there's all kinds of avenues that we can go down. And what we're looking at is what's the right mix in this country to reach the most people with the goal of really engaging, perhaps a younger audience, while also servicing our most avid fans.”
