BeIN, the international pay-TV heavyweight, has retained the media rights to American football’s elite NFL in France ahead of the league’s first international regular-season fixture in the French market this season.
Having held the NFL’s media rights in the country since 2012, BeIN’s new agreement serves as an expansion of that deal, with an additional game broadcast each week added to seasonal coverage of the competition.
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In past years, BeIN has broadcast the weekly 'Monday Night Football' and 'Thursday Night Football' fixtures, provided ‘Redzone’ (multiview) coverage of the weekly Sunday night slate and also shown one full Sunday night featured game live (in the 10:25pm local time slot) with French-language commentary.
BeIN has now added a second live Sunday featured game broadcast, the 7pm local time slot broadcast, to that agreement, enhancing its coverage of the league.
This will include live coverage of the NFL’s first-ever game in the French market, which will see the New Orleans Saints face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paris’ Stade de France on October 25, in the time-zone-friendly 2:30pm slot.
The broadcaster has also retained the rights to complete coverage of the post-season playoffs, and of course the season-ending Super Bowl, which this season will take place on February 14, 2027.
BeIN will program “exclusive” social media and digital-facing content throughout the season, and will supplement its live NFL coverage with the NFL Extra weekly magazine show, and NFL-focused YouTube recap and news videos.
NFL action will begin in earnest on September 9, when the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks kick off the campaign against last season’s runners-up, the New England Patriots.
The Saints are the sole holders of marketing rights for the French market (including Monaco), and in 2025 sent a player-led delegation to activate in the country, meaning that the New Orleans franchise is likely to be central to a lot of NFL coverage in the market.
Paris’ 80,000-capacity Stade de France will host the country’s first regular-season NFL game, in partnership with operator GL Events, the French Department of Sports, Youth and Community Life, the Fédération Française de Football Américain (FFFA), and local and regional government stakeholders Plaine Commune, Ville de Saint Denis, Ville de Paris, Métropole du Grand Paris, and Région Ile de France.
The Stade de France is the country’s biggest stadium by capacity, and already hosts high-profile soccer and rugby matches for France’s national teams in those respective sports. The venue also served as the centerpiece for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
