Arena football to be televised on NFL network
NFL Network to broadcast new arena league’s games
By JOHN LOMBARDO & JOHN OURAND
Staff writers
Published February 08, 2010 : Page 03
The upstart AF1 has signed a television deal with the NFL Network, giving the nascent indoor football league an instant dose of credibility.
The deal is a one-year agreement, with another one-year option. Terms call for AF1 to sell the advertising inventory, with the indoor league and the NFL Network evenly splitting all revenue.
The NFL Network will provide the on-air talent. The league’s games will be aired live on Friday nights from 8 to 11 p.m. ET beginning April 2 through the league’s championship game in late August. The AF1 game on April 23 will be pre-empted by the network’s draft coverage.
Charles Coplin, vice president of programming for the NFL, said the deal made sense for the NFL Network, which has expanded beyond NFL programming by covering college football games.
“We embrace football at all levels,” Coplin said. “This spring schedule gives us a weekly live game featuring some players who may eventually play in the NFL.”
The NFL Network also was attracted by the AF1’s spring schedule, which comes at a relatively down time for the NFL, with no live games. “They are playing at a time where it made perfect sense for our schedule,” Coplin said.
The NFL Network has not made any decisions on the talent it will use or on any shoulder programming it may produce.
“Right now, the focus is just on the games,” Coplin said. “We’ll get back from South Florida and look at whether there’s anything to do around it.”
Coplin said the deal does not hint at a larger working relationship between the two football leagues.
“This is a programming deal between the NFL Network and [AF1] to cover their games,” he said. “The programming made sense to us. The economics made sense to us. It’s not indicative of a larger or broader relationship. This deal is very consistent with how we’ve programmed the network from the beginning.”
The deal is expected to be officially announced in mid-February. The 15-team league, which was created this year after the assets of the former AFL were sold out of bankruptcy, also is expected to be rebranded as the AFL before the start of the season.
AF1 Commissioner Jerry Kurz would not comment specifically on the television deal.
“We are pleased with where we are and we are about to announce a national game of the week arrangement,” Kurz said.
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