TV2 has held the rights since 2022, having first broadcast the league in 2000. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Danish state-owned TV network TV2 has exited its broadcast coverage contract with American football’s NFL a year early.

TV2 had originally agreed to broadcast the NFL in Denmark on a three-year contract, in September 2022, but held an option to exit the contract after the second season, an option it has now exercised.

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Frederik Lauesen, director of sport at TV2, has told news outlets in the country that the reason behind the exit from the contract lies with the broadcaster looking to save money by cutting back on its portfolio of sports rights.

The channel also broadcasts Sailing’s SailGP, multiple competitions of handball, NBA basketball, and badminton, among others.

Lauesen added that while viewership of the NFL had been solid across the first two years of the contract, that had not in turn led to any significant growth in subscriptions to the network’s TV2 Play over-the-top streaming service.

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Furthermore, while the broadcaster’s NBA basketball contract allows it to pick and choose the best suite of games to broadcast, the NFL is the party that selects fixtures for coverage in its deal, which may have hampered viewer interest.

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The announcement of the end of TV2’s broadcast partnership with the NFL now means that the league does not currently have a rightsholder in Denmark – this has not happened since 2000 when it was picked up by TV2 initially.

The NFL does at least still operate NFL Game Pass, its streaming service focused on international markets, in Denmark – the existence of this option is likely another reason behind the end of the TV2 broadcast deal.

The NFL is prominent in neighboring Germany, where it has hosted games over the past two seasons. Viewers in some areas of Denmark may be able to piggyback on stations in Germany broadcasting the games, in particular RTL Deutschland and OTT network DAZN, both of which hold rights to the league.