NFL On The BBC
The New York Jets take on the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium on Sunday (4th October 2015) and I can't flipping wait!
Am I going? Nope... but it's on the telly, as in normal telly, BBC 2 to be exact.
This is great news for American Football fans on a budget and those curious about the sport who want to find out more. UK-based fans can either subscribe to Sky Sports or get a NFL Game Pass but both will set you back over £100, so any free-to-air NFL is something to savour.
For the last few seasons Channel 4 had broadcast Sunday Night Football - usually the big game of the week - with Nat Coombs and Iron Mike Carlson and had a weekly highlights show. Sadly SNF has been snapped up by Sky and there's no highlights show on terrestrial TV at the moment (more on that later) but I can still get my Nat and Mike fix on the excellent Americarnage podcast - seriously, if you're looking for an 'in' into US sports, check it out.
So while I feel NFL UK has taken a backward step by allowing most of the rights to live games to go behind a paywall, let us celebrate the fact that the BBC has picked up the three Wembley games (known as the International Series), the Super Bowl and that they start screening highlights after the final International Series game. Not only that but Nat and Mike are on hosting duties for the BBC, which is doubly good as the Beeb often wheel out Colin Murray for these kind of things.
Anyway, let's talk a bit about Sunday's game. The Miami Dolphins are the home team and are 1-2 (which means they've won one game and lost two) while the New York Jets are 2-1. Despite being absolutely miles apart this is kind of like a local derby, as they play in the same mini-division, the AFC East (along with the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills), so this should be a fun and intense game. Both teams have occasionally erratic quarterbacks - Ryan Tannehill for the Dolphins and Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Jets (though Geno Smith might just make it back in time from injury), so expect some interceptions and therefore some chaos. I reckon the Jets will come out on top as Miami are struggling, I mean they've already lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars and - I say this as a Jags fan - they suck at American Football.
Photo Credit: NFL UK
The game kicks off at 2.30pm and coverage starts at 2.00pm. They'll almost certainly be showing loads of videos beforehand to explain gridiron to newcomers to the sport but if you want something right now, check out this short video on the BBC Sport website.
The other games in the International Series at Wembley are:
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs Buffalo Bills on Sunday 25th October 2015
- Kansas City Chiefs vs Detroit Lions on Sunday 1st November 2015
And as mentioned above, after the Lions @ Chiefs game, The Road To The Super Bowl highlights show should be airing.
Bring on Sunday!
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1 Comment – Postiwch sylw
FalseNine
Rhoddwyd sylw 7 mis yn ôl - 5th October 2015 - 21:38pm
So the Jets won pretty comfortable, any other Sprout readers tune in? If anyone has any American Football questions, I'm happy to try and answer them!
Next game is (your) Jacksonville Jaguars v the Buffalo Bills, should be another good 'un!