History
The NFL has owned a stake in Skydance Media since 2022, and with the merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, Channel 5's owners, came an opportunity to show free-to-air, weekly, regular season game coverage of two Sunday night games for the first time in the UK.
Channel 5 gained the rights on a multi-year deal to two weekly Sunday games (a 6pm GMT/1pm ET and 9.25 GMT/4:25 ET game, which can be in-house or Fox games), plus the NFL International series games in London and Dublin, the Thanksgiving Day games (in-house, Fox, and NBC games) and the Super Bowl (all networks). [1]
Game analysis is provided by Osi Umenyiora, two-time Super Bowl-winning defensive end with the New York Giants, and Sam Quek, English former hockey player and Olympic gold medallist.
Due to United Kingdom broadcasting regulations over the amount of advertising per hour, a standard simulcast of an American football broadcast from the United States from CBS or Fox is not permitted without additional content during American commercial breaks. British broadcasters have historically featured analysis during these breaks, but NFL Big Game Night, in an attempt to appeal to a family audience, includes game-show-style segments during the early game broadcast, in which two teams of four supporters—each representing one of the sides featured in the broadcast game—take part in a series of challenges, such as riding a bucking bronco while catching footballs. A winning team then faces another challenge to earn a trip to an NFL city in the United States.
During the game show portions, the team captains are usually Umenyiora and Quek, but sometimes special guests participate. [2] [3]
The later game airs as a more traditional telecast on 5Action, branded as 5NFL for the period, and is hosted as a pair by Quek and Umenyiora, who also provide analysis of the game during breaks, along with a guest pundit.
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