The NFL Network was launched in 2003, based on the league’s perception that fans wanted more football coverage than what was provided by ESPN and other sports channels. The channel offers 24 hours of coverage, with 1,000 hours of original programming each week. Several cable companies, including Time Warner, Comcast and Cablevision, have refused to include the channel as part of their basic cable package. Instead, these companies want to include the NFL Network as part of the “player tier,” meaning fans who want access to the channel must pay extra for access. This is quite a discussion on the NFL Network’s Wikipedia entry.
Is this channel really Mecca for all football fans? Is it really that big of a deal for these cable fans who don’t want to offer a free channel? The answer is that NFL Network offers quality programming, but repetitive programming and endless self-promotional efforts are often enough to make even the biggest fan turn off the channel.
Bad
Let me say from the start that I watch the NFL Network and generally enjoy the programming. But this review begins with the negative aspects of the channel in an attempt to provide some objectivity.
1. Self promotion
The only channel that rivals the NFL Network in terms of its promotional activities is ESPN. It stands to reason that President and CEO Steve Bornstein (also vice-executive president of NFL Media) is a former president of ESPN. In addition, two former NFL Network executives were hired by ESPN. Self-promotion comes in all forms, boards, team comments, and the like. It would be one thing if this happened when the NFL Network were in the middle of a special promotion, trying to encourage viewers to become hooked on the NFL Network. However, the NFL Network promotion takes place every hour of every day. At some point, viewers not only know they’re watching NFL Network, but also why they’re watching NFL Network. Viewers don’t need yet another reminder of what they’re watching and why they’re watching it.
2. Repeated Ads
Acts of self-promotion alone would not be so bad if these acts were not repeated over and over again in the form of self-promotion. If a viewer watches NFL Network for two hours, there’s a good chance that viewer will watch the same thing eight times. And these advertisements circulate for many months. One local series of NFL films promoting the American game ran well for a year, and it was only for that purpose. Imagine if McDonald’s ran the same network, and it ran at least twice an hour all day. There is a pretty good chance that the McDonald’s campaign will fail. It seems that it is no different with the game in America, which is still running, although it shows less often.
3. Repeated programming
NFL Films has access to footage from every game since the 1960s, but much of the programming is very repetitive. In the same way that ESPN runs SportsCenter several times in a row, NFL Network shows its own version of SportsCenter — Total Access — several times a day.
4. Stupid person
The NFL Network’s main source is Rich Eisen, who was once an anchor on SportsCenter. It is generally very good, but around others the quality falls into the channel. The network features several former players and coaches as commentators, including the likes of Terrell Davis, Jamie Dukes, Rod Woodson, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Sterling Sharpe, Brian Baldinger, Steve Marucci, and Jim Mora. The quality varies, but the commentary is often boring and the commentators don’t add as much insight as expected.
5. It aired on Thursday night
The NFL granted the NFL Network the rights to broadcast eight games each season, which created a bit of controversy. The broadcast of the last season between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in 2007 caused a huge stir as the Patriots were poised to become the first team in league history to finish the season 16-0. The intervention of Massachusetts senator John Kerry took the league to negotiate with other networks to show the game. In the end, the game was broadcast on NFL Network, NBC, and CBS.
Those who do not have access to the network have difficulty watching the games of their favorite teams. Even for those who can watch the games, the cast left something to be desired. Bryant Gumbel was the play-by-play announcer for the first two seasons, and he was just that. He was then replaced by Bob Pope, who is the radio announcer for the New York Giants.
Good
For the viewer who can handle the negatives, NFL Network can be interesting. Below are some strengths;
1. Eisen
Eisen is a lead host on the network, hired by ESPN in 2003. He is a comedian and impersonator, and has grown into a role as the face of the network. It is often enough that the often subpar performances by other hosts, such as Fran-Charles, are easily forgotten.
2. Adam Schefter
Schefter is the main reporter for the network, and while some would put him in the “bad” category, he often breaks news stories. /a> a about the covenant His columns appear frequently on NFL.com.
3. Bob Pope and Chris Collinsworth
The trouble that NFL Network had during its first two seasons of live game broadcasts was obviously Gumbel’s performance. Collinsworth seems to be everywhere these days (Inside the NFL, NBC, NFL Network), but he’s primarily a good color commentator. Pope is no less good than Joe Buck or Al Michaels, but far superior is Gumbel, who often errs.
4. NFL vehicles except
NFL Films, which owns the rights to all NFL footage, seems to have been discarding footage from the original broadcasts for years and only showing their style of rendering. In 2007, the company finally started showing full games from the previous week in a program called NFL Replay. This show allows viewers to watch the entire game from the previous week, which is great when the viewer was unable to watch the game from the previous weekend.
5. NFL.com Videos
Fans who visit NFL.com can view additional video footage produced by the NFL Network. This is very useful for those who don’t have access to the channel, but it’s also a nice free source because they watch the NFL.
Comparisons with other Networks
For fans who are familiar with the NFL Network, but who are familiar with other sports programs, here are some comparisons.
1. NFL GameDay vs. ESPN’s Primetime/NFL Blitz vs. NBC’s Football Night in America
The NFL’s highlight show is called GameDay Network, which features Eisen, Sanders and Mariucci. Eisen is often funny, but not as over-the-top as ESPN’s Chris Berman. Sander may be invisible, but he is knowledgeable, and Mariucci provides solid commentary.
GameDay is similar to the old NFL Primetime, which featured Berman and Tom Jackson and which is now the SportsCenter segment known as NFL Blitz. The NFL Network has a lot to offer in America on NBC’s Football Night, which has too many personalities (Bob Latin, Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, and several former players who serve as commentators). GameDay doesn’t have the same kind of ratings as the other shows and it doesn’t have as many features, but the extended highlights and accompanying commentary are just as good as those found on ESPN.
2. Total Access vs. SportsCenter
The NFL Network’s news program, Total Access, focuses almost entirely on football, and is generally less attractive than ESPN SportsCenter. All Access is especially good with its Eisen Armies, as Fran Charles’s replacement tends to be quite flattering.
3. NFL Films programming on NFL Network vs ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic sports features historic and often original broadcasts of baseball and sports as well as boxing and other sports events. One part of ESPN Classic that missed the original board games were, and this feature is now appearing in the NFL. network NFL Network President Bornstein announced during summer 2008 negotiations that ESPN Classic would join the NFL Network, but these reports appear to have failed.
Bottom Line
There are many ways that the NFL Network could improve, and the network could start working on its arrogance. The I Want My NFL Network website is urging fans to stand behind the league in its battle with several cable companies. Maybe it’s a good thing that more fans could do this if the NFL Network focused more on promoting its programming and less on promoting itself. It’s a good base to build on, and the network can get on par with ESPN. Right now, there’s still a niche market of die-hard football fans who can’t get enough of the NFL.
I am one of those fans.
