New York – The National Football League and China Central Television (CCTV) have reached a groundbreaking agreement that will culminate in the live broadcast of this season’s Super Bowl, the NFL and CCTV announced today.
CCTV-5, China’s only 24-hour terrestrial sports channel that is broadcast nationwide, will televise Super Bowl XXXVIII live from Houston’s Reliant Stadium to more than 300 million households throughout mainland China. Kickoff for the NFL’s Title game is set for 5:25 p.m. local time on Sunday, February 1, which will be 7:25 a.m. on Monday in China.
‘This is an exciting partnership,’ says NFL Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE. ‘It is another indication of the growing interest in our sport and the Super Bowl from beyond our borders. CCTV delivers broad exposure in a market that we feel is most promising in the future.’
A five-person production crew from CCTV will capture all the sights, sounds and excitement of Super Bowl XXXVIII for broadcast in China. Its two-man announcing team will include noted CCTV Sports commentator, HAN QIAOSHENG who, depending on how the NFL playoffs unfold, could be joined by Philadelphia Eagles tight end, CHAD LEWIS, who is fluent in Mandarin.
‘We are very pleased to partner with America’s most popular sports league, the NFL,’ says MA GUO LI, President of CCTV Sports. ‘This is an excellent opportunity to introduce American Football to Chinese viewers. I hope it will be interesting to my fellow countrymen and will lead to a win-win partnership between our two organizations in the future.’
In the lead up to Super Bowl, NFL Films and CCTV Sports will jointly produce a localized version of ‘NFL Blast,’ the league’s international magazine show, specifically for the Chinese audience. Broadcast completely in Mandarin, the show will debut on CCTV-5 on January 1 and will air every Thursday from 10:40-11:40 pm throughout the NFL playoffs, with a re-broadcast every Monday morning.
‘NFL Blast’ will help introduce viewers to the basics of the NFL and American football. Each one-hour show will have instructional segments hosted by Lewis, lifestyle pieces introducing NFL personalities, a portion dedicated to explaining the Super Bowl’s place in American culture, and a set of highlights from the previous week’s games — all designed to set the stage for the first live, nationwide Super Bowl broadcast in China since 1987.
This is the latest of several initiatives launched by the NFL in China during the past 14 months. In November, more than 400 players and coaches from 23 schools participated in the first NFL Flag Football tournament in Shanghai, which was won by Chang Ning Middle School.
Super Bowl XXXVIII will be televised in more than 220 countries and territories to a potential worldwide audience estimated at more than 1 billion.
According to a survey conducted by the Initiative international media agency, last season’s Super Bowl – Super Bowl XXXVIII between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders – was the most-watched sports event on television globally, outdistancing such events as the Champions League final, the final stage of the Tour de France, the Rugby World Cup final, and game six of the NBA finals.
For more details contact:
Matt Hill
(212) 450-2000
FAX (212) 681-7573
WWW.NFLMedia.com