The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee . It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium , and were coached by former NFL player and head coach Mike Singletary .
118-480: On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were reportedly suspended, and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. The Alliance of American Football announced the awarding of the third inaugural league team, Alliance Memphis, on May 4, 2018. This announcement was followed by the May 10, 2018, announcement of Mike Singletary as the team's head coach. On July 30, 2018,
236-505: A downscaled and letterboxed version of the HD feed to provide the channel in 4:3 standard definition for analog viewers without any deviation, including the "NFL HD" logo. The standard definition feed was discontinued entirely in July 2012, concurrent with the introduction of the network's current logo. The NFL RedZone channel is a special game-day only channel that broadcasts on Sundays during
354-510: A satellite radio service, carried a select Game of the Week. Additionally, teams made broadcast deals with local radio affiliates. The AAF received mixed to positive reviews opening night. Profootballtalk.com , in a mostly positive review, praised the league's television product and choice of markets that would embrace the league, singling out the live look-ins at the replay booth during coach's challenges as an innovation that could transfer to
472-482: A $ 250 million lump sum to the league. Dundon planned to incrementally invest in the league, using $ 250 million as a theoretical maximum based on if the league were to "aggressively expand," and reserved the right to pull out of the league at any time. At the time of the reported April 2 suspension, Dundon had invested an estimated $ 70 million into the AAF. He had drastically reduced unnecessary expenses and mostly abandoned
590-481: A 10-week regular season and conclude with a championship game on April 27. After eight weeks of play, however, the league's football operations were suspended by controlling owner Thomas Dundon on April 2. Two days later, the AAF allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. The AAF filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 17, 2019, with the league's sole season left incomplete. The AAF positioned itself as an "upper-level minor league" serving as
708-676: A 38-yard field goal against the Orlando Apollos . The first touchdown came in the same game with Orlando quarterback Garrett Gilbert connecting with Jalin Marshall for a 16-yard score. The first shutout was recorded by the Birmingham Iron when they defeated the Memphis Express , 26–0, in Week 1. The first onside conversion (see Rules section, below) was attempted during Week 3, with Atlanta successfully completing
826-469: A 48-yard pass against Birmingham. The first safety was registered by Atlanta against the Arizona Hotshots in Week 4. The first overtime game occurred in Week 7, with Memphis defeating Birmingham. A four-team playoff was to be capped with the league's championship game, initially scheduled to be held at Sam Boyd Stadium near Las Vegas . After Dundon took over league operations, he moved
944-415: A 60-day advanced notice before large layoffs . Reggie Fowler was arrested April 30, 2019, on charges related to operating a massive cryptocurrency scam in 2018, the funds for which were used to fund his AAF investments. In November 2022, the trustees handling the AAF bankruptcy filed a lawsuit against Dundon seeking the remainder of the $ 250 million investment he had publicly promised, alleging he owed
1062-477: A basic package and a carriage fee of $ 0.61 per subscriber. Time Warner Cable and other major cable providers wished to place it on a sports tier. Cable companies felt that a channel with such marginal interest, few live games, and filler programming, would be tough to sell outside of the football season. In February 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that the NFL had been in discussion with Disney executives over
1180-591: A berth in the Bowl Championship Series . The NFL denied that request and would only offer the free preview if Cablevision and/or Time Warner Cable made the entire preview week available to customers. TWC then offered to carry the free preview on a digital tier. Cablevision, however, continued to refuse to carry any NFL Network programming other than the Texas Bowl. It even announced that Cablevision would put it on channel 14 (normally occupied by
1298-490: A centralized process that is largely a trade secret . The league showed willingness to offer more money to marquee players; Landry Jones noted that Ebersol had personally promised a salary of over $ 1,000,000 to Jones if he played for the San Antonio Commanders; when Jones pressed Ebersol on when he would be paid, Ebersol became evasive, leading Jones to reject the offer. Matt McGloin likewise turned down
SECTION 10
#17327800551281416-488: A clause would hold up in court after the AAF collapsed, and that the XFL would be willing to sign AAF players. The league also has an incentive system that pays members of a team's offensive and defensive units for statistical achievements and also pays players to perform community service ; the exact details of this incentive system were not yet finalized at the start of the 2019 season. Players are assigned to each team by way of
1534-486: A day after the bankruptcy filing. The league's uniforms and equipment were stored in a lot in San Antonio, Texas and eventually auctioned off in July 2019. Former Arena Football League commissioner Jerry Kurz made the winning bid at $ 455,000, beating out bids from (among others) the revived XFL . Subsequently, the perpetually postponed Major League Football claimed it had entered into an agreement to purchase
1652-574: A highly anticipated match-up. This controversy would pale in comparison to the final game the NFL Network would broadcast that season. In December 2007, U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for the league to settle their differences in time for the New England Patriots - New York Giants game on December 29 that would be broadcast on Saturday Night Football . The game
1770-479: A lawsuit by a venture capitalist in Los Angeles became public, as the AAF issued a statement denying a claim by Robert Vanech that the league was his idea and that he had a handshake agreement with Charlie Ebersol; Vanech is seeking financial damages and 50 percent ownership of the league. As at 2024 the matter has not been resolved. Also in late February, the league revealed that it had been unable to secure
1888-470: A league-wide worker's compensation insurance policy prior to the start of the season, forcing the Orlando Apollos to move its practice operations to Kingsland, Georgia , and commute to Orlando for games, as Florida does not consider professional athletes to be eligible for worker's compensation. In April 2019, after the league suspended football operations, two players—punter Colton Schmidt of
2006-449: A majority stake in the league in exchange for his investment. Dundon's investment was initially reported to be due to the league being in danger of not making payroll. The league claimed the payroll issue was due to a glitch in the league's changing of payroll companies, and that Dundon's investment had already been planned. Dundon later backtracked on his previous claim of a $ 250 million investment, noting that he had not actually delivered
2124-467: A multi-year deal to air Alliance of American Football games, broadcasting two games per week, most of them on Saturday and Sunday nights. As with all other AAF games, the broadcasts were produced in conjunction with CBS Sports. The league ultimately folded in the middle of its inaugural season . NFL Network HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast feed of NFL Network that launched in August 2004. It
2242-529: A new contract. On July 30, 2009, NFL Network was made available to lower-tiered Comcast digital cable subscribers. NFL Network later filed a discrimination case against Comcast with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claiming that since Comcast does not charge an extra fee for the sports channels it owns, Versus and Golf Channel , it considered Comcast's move to charge extra for NFL Network unfair. On October 10, 2008,
2360-414: A non-guaranteed three-year contract worth a total of $ 250,000 ($ 70,000 in 2019; $ 80,000 in 2020; $ 100,000 in 2021), with performance-based and fan-interaction incentives allowing for players to earn more. In July 2018, Starter , through G-III Sports, which manufactured NFL jerseys and apparel in the 1980s and 1990s, was named the official on-field apparel and game-day uniform supplier for the AAF, marking
2478-520: A portion of the package would air in simulcast on broadcast television, and CBS Sports would produce all games. Specific games would still be exclusive to NFL Network to comply with carriage agreements guaranteeing a minimum number of exclusive NFL broadcasts per-season. In 2016, NBC Sports also gained a portion of the package under a similar arrangement. Fox Sports took over the package from 2018 to 2022. With Amazon Prime Video taking over exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football beginning in
SECTION 20
#17327800551282596-445: A regular season game on April 6, 2019 (in the afternoon prior to CBS's broadcast of the 2019 NCAA Final Four ), and one of the conference championship games. However, due to the suspension of football operations, these games were left unplayed. The following lists notable AAF players: NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN ) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by
2714-487: A result, much of the network's highlights and recaps feature NFL Films' trademark style of slow-motion game action, sounds of the game, and sideline conversations between players and/or team staff. Both the network's site and app, were launched in 2004 (on NFL.com) and 2009, respectively. Beginning with the 2006 season , the network began to broadcast eight regular-season NFL games during Thursday prime time , branded as Thursday Night Football . In addition to live games,
2832-539: A return for the brand to professional football after an almost 20-year absence. On September 20, the league announced four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos. The four western teams' logos and names were revealed five days later. On October 16, 2018, the Alliance announced its schedule (indicating the day and location, but not the time, of each game) which had two games each on Saturday and on Sunday most weekends. Quarterback skills training camps were held at
2950-461: A stipulation that they could leave to sign with NFL teams at the conclusion of an AAF season. The league did not issue any public statement until April 6, when the AAF.com website was updated with a statement, which read in part: This week, we made the difficult decision to suspend all football operations for the Alliance of American Football. We understand the difficulty that this decision has caused for many people and for that we are very sorry. This
3068-425: A television listings channel that was used as an overflow feed for MSG Network and FSN New York ) at 6:00 p.m. until the end of the network's postgame coverage. The NFL, however, stated that it would not accept that request. On December 21, however, after New Jersey legislators threatened legal action, Cablevision changed its mind and indeed showed not only the game between Rutgers and Kansas State , but also
3186-410: A transition between the college game and the NFL. Charlie Ebersol , son of former NBC executive and XFL co-founder Dick Ebersol , was inspired to create the AAF in late 2016 after producing the documentary This Was the XFL for ESPN Films ' 30 for 30 series; upon researching and examining the history of the XFL, he came to the conclusion that the concept was viable but that the finished product
3304-450: A year's scholarship in post-secondary education for each season of play. Players got three-year, non-guaranteed contracts worth $ 250,000 plus health insurance with an escape clause to go to the NFL. The three-year contract was believed to be purposely targeting the XFL to prevent second-tier professional players from signing with the XFL if they played in the AAF in 2019. XFL commissioner Oliver Luck stated that he did not believe that such
3422-405: Is available nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network , and regionally on Verizon FiOS , AT&T U-verse and most Comcast and Cogeco Cable systems. In mid-October 2008, in-studio programs began to air in "enhanced HD", featuring contained additional scores and statistics on a dedicated wing on the right side of the screen that was only visible on the HD feed. Content that
3540-505: Is hosted by Scott Hanson . This is not to be confused with the former DirecTV -exclusive channel which was a part of NFL Sunday Ticket until the end of the 2022 season. Starting in 2016, NFL Network during the offseason replayed one week of NFL RedZone every Sunday from the previous season. NFL Network was approved for distribution on Canadian television providers by the CRTC in 2004; Live Thursday Night Football games are blacked out on
3658-423: Is not the way we wanted it to end, but we are also committed to working on solutions for all outstanding issues to the best of our ability. Due to ongoing legal processes, we are unable to comment further or share details about the decision. At the time its football operations were suspended, the AAF had played eight weeks out of a scheduled ten-week regular season. On April 17, Ebersol Sports Media Group, Inc. and
Memphis Express - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-407: Is presented in 4:3 standard definition is shown with stylized pillarboxes , or for some footage, blurred pillarbox wings. On May 1, 2009, NFL Total Access began airing in full HD without pillarboxing or enhanced graphics; this was followed by the upgrade of NFL GameDay to HD the following September. Most providers began to exclusively carry the HD feed of the network during 2011, transmitting
3894-557: The 2012 season as a result of ongoing labor problems within the league. The season's remaining games were carried on a tape delay before the network terminated the league broadcast contract outright at the end of the season; the rights were then obtained by CBS Sports Network . In March, 2024 the NFL announced they would broadcast 30 regular season games from the 2024 revival of the AFL on NFL Network. The league never carried any games, with West Texas Desert Hawks owner Zack Bugg accusing
4012-621: The 2022 season , NFL Network returned to carrying regular college football games through a weekly sub-license agreement with ESPN . NFL Network aired two high school all-star games in June 2007: the Bayou Bowl between players from Texas and Louisiana on June 9 (via a live feed from regional sports network FSN Southwest ), and the Big 33 Football Classic between players from Pennsylvania and Ohio on June 16 (sharing its feed with CN8 (now
4130-479: The 91st Academy Awards . Week 4's ratings were largely consistent with those of week 2, with the two NFL Network games that week securing ratings of 404,000 and 450,000 viewers, comparable to college basketball and NHL telecasts on the other sports networks. The disparity between the afternoon and evening games is consistent due to increased competition during primetime hours and the higher market penetration of CBS and TNT compared to NFL Network and CBS Sports Network,
4248-596: The Alamodome in San Antonio on November 12 through 14. On November 27, the league held a four-round "Protect or Pick" quarterback draft in the Esports Arena at Luxor Las Vegas and broadcast on CBS Sports Network . The AAF began its inaugural, 10-week season on February 9, 2019. The first points in AAF regular season history were scored by kicker Younghoe Koo of the Atlanta Legends , who made
4366-592: The Birmingham Iron at Legion Field on February 10, ended in a 26–0 shutout loss. Their first home game was a 20–18 loss against the Arizona Hotshots during week 2. Memphis notched their first win on March 2, with a 26–23 victory over the San Diego Fleet at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium . On March 16, 2019, shortly after the Express fell to 1–5 in a 22–9 loss to the Salt Lake Stallions ,
4484-542: The Comcast Network ) and cable outlets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Ohio). For the 2023 off-season, the NFL Network broadcast delayed games from the 7-on-7 Overtime's football league (OT7). In 2024 the network had live coverage of OT7's five-week regular season. On July 1, 2010, NFL Network began airing live Canadian Football League games simulcast from Canadian sports network TSN . NFL Network aired
4602-722: The ESPN3 online service (ESPN owns a 20% interest in TSN, in a joint venture with majority parent Bell Media ). On May 25, 2012, NFL Network announced it would not renew its contract with the CFL. The package was subsequently acquired by the NBC Sports Network , then by the ESPN networks . NFL Network expressed interest in picking up CFL games again beginning in the 2019 season after its previous deal with ESPN expired. To accommodate this,
4720-783: The Houston Texans at the time), the Insight Bowl , as well as two all-star events—the Senior Bowl (which features prospects that had completed their college eligibility) and the Las Vegas All-American Classic (which, however, was cancelled at the last minute due to financial and sponsorship issues). These games were intended to help make NFL Network more attractive to television providers. The 2006 Insight Bowl , played between Minnesota and Texas Tech , would also achieve notoriety for featuring
4838-507: The Memphis Mad Dogs pro football team in the 1990s; as the AAF was a single-entity league that never progressed to selling individual franchises as originally planned, Smith had no involvement or investment with the Express, despite the use of the Express name and imagery.) On January 5, 2019, training camp opened in San Antonio, Texas . The final 52-man roster was released on January 30. The Express' inaugural game, played against
Memphis Express - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-632: The NFL Films building in Mount Laurel, New Jersey . As of February 2015 , NFL Network was available to approximately 71.10 million television households in the United States (totaling 61.9000% of U.S. households with at least one television set). As of June 2023 , the channel was available in 51.5 million homes as cord cutting continues to affect the industry. NFL Network was launched on November 4, 2003, only eight months after
5074-905: The National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films , NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL RedZone . Dedicated to American football , the network features game telecasts from the NFL, as well as NFL-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries . The network is headquartered in the NFL Los Angeles building located next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood , California , and broadcasts its worldwide feed from Encompass Digital Media (formerly Crawford Communications, and Broadcast Facilities Inc. ) in Atlanta , Georgia . The network has secondary East Coast facilities in
5192-614: The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and its reluctance to cooperate out of concern for injuries, if they are "not going to give us young players, we can't be a development league". He added that the AAF was looking at its options, including discontinuing the league if the NFLPA wasn't willing to work with the league. Profootballtalk.com reported shortly thereafter, citing unnamed sources, that if Dundon's demands were not met, he
5310-946: The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints in 2007 (NBC had opted out to carry the proposed China Bowl preseason game in Beijing, which was eventually cancelled). On weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the off-season, Good Morning Football /Good Morning Football Weekend airs live from 7-10 am ET, followed by a repeat from 10 am-1 pm ET. On Sundays during the NFL season, the NFL GameDay Morning pre-game show airs from 9 am-1 pm ET, NFL GameDay Live from 1-7:30 pm ET, NFL GameDay Highlights from 7:30-8:30 ET, NFL GameDay Prime from 8:30 pm–11:30 pm ET and NFL GamDay Final from 11:30 pm–12:30 am ET (though this schedule may change depending on if
5428-613: The Texas Bowl and Insight Bowl , but excluded that week's NFL game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins (which was already scheduled to air on a local broadcast station under existing NFL policy). However, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision were only interested in showing the Texas Bowl, which featured the Rutgers Scarlet Knights , who developed strong local appeal in 2006 and barely missed
5546-519: The $ 184 million debt to the league. Dundon countersued Ebersol for the $ 70 million he had previously invested. Source: As part of its formation, the AAF announced broadcast deals with CBS Sports ; opening day (consisting of two regionally-televised games) was scheduled for CBS , as well as a playoff semifinal and the championship game. The telecasts made extensive use of on-field microphones (with head coaches and quarterbacks also miked), and Skycams (with two deployed for each game, with one along
5664-647: The 2007 season, including the Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana . Rights to the Insight and Texas Bowls were later acquired by ESPN (with the former later moving to Fox Sports ). In May 2019, NFL Network announced a four-year deal with Conference USA to air a weekly regular-season game on Saturday afternoons beginning in the 2019 season . NFL Network opted out of
5782-638: The 2010 season, the network broadcast a weekly Friday Night Football game each week during the regular season and playoff games at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time from March to August, in addition to rights to playoff games and the ArenaBowl . The NFL stated that unlike when the NFL last showed interest in arena football, there would be no attempts to buy into the league. Broadcasters for the games included Kurt Warner , Tom Waddle , Paul Burmeister , Fran Charles , Charles Davis and Ari Wolfe . NFL Network ceased airing Arena Football League games partway through
5900-452: The 2022 season, NFL Network switched to a package consisting primarily of Sunday morning NFL International Series games, and late-season Saturday games. NFL Network televises all 65 preseason games each August. Some of the games air live on the network; however, a majority of these contests air on a tape-delayed basis and use the local broadcast of one of the teams involved. Live preseason game broadcasts on NFL Network are blacked out in
6018-672: The AAF site and app as well. CBSSN's game of the week was called by Ben Holden , Adam Archuleta , and John Schriffen . NFL Network's broadcast team for week one consisted of Dan Hellie on play-by-play and Marvin Lewis on color commentary. TNT's broadcast team consisted of Brian Anderson on play-by-play, Lewis on color commentary, and Maurice Jones-Drew as sideline reporter. The league did not use set announcer pairings, rotating numerous hosts (several of them from CBS's NFL and college football crews) on both play-by-play and color commentary, depending on availability. Sirius XM Radio ,
SECTION 50
#17327800551286136-476: The AAF to gain more playing time in a similar system to what used to be in place during the existence of NFL Europe . This would have in effect made the AAF an official developmental league of the NFL. Dundon sought a change in the NFL's collective bargaining agreement to protect AAF players who may get injured and miss NFL playing time by ensuring the players still earned a salary from the NFL during their recovery. In late March, Dundon stated that, in reference to
6254-701: The AAF, both because of his skepticism over the league and the birth of his child. For the fans, in addition to a fantasy league built into mobile broadcasts, there were low ticket prices (each team have a $ 35/game sideline seat option) and inexpensive food at games. When the league abruptly folded, the league left players to personally pay outstanding bills for their own hotels, as well as their transportation home and even their medical bills from injuries sustained during play. The AAF coaching salaries varied by title, with $ 500,000 for head coaches, $ 200–250,000 for coordinators, and $ 75–150,000 for position coaches. Each AAF team employed between 11 and 13 total coaches, putting
6372-514: The Alliance announced team Memphis had signed its first 29 players. On September 20, the league announced four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos including Memphis as the Memphis Express. The name is derived from Memphis' significance as a mail and cargo transport city being the "World Headquarters" of FedEx (formerly Federal Express), with an airplane being featured in the logo. (FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith had previously owned
6490-605: The Alliance announced the league had signed 100 players. In August 2018, the league held the Alliance Scouting Combine at three locations and four dates: August 4, 2018, in Los Angeles, California; August 18 in Houston, Texas; and August 25–26 in Atlanta, Georgia. By August 24, 2018, 205 players were signed. These dates provided an opportunity for players cut at the NFL roster deadline, and each player signed
6608-816: The Birmingham Iron and linebacker Reggie Northrup of the Orlando Apollos—filed a class action lawsuit in California, claiming that they were misled about the financial viability of the league and that the league entered contracts with players in bad faith. Also in April, two former front-office league employees filed a class action lawsuit in California, claiming that the league violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 , which requires large companies to give at least
6726-499: The NBC/CBS simulcast. RCN Corporation , the 12th-largest cable provider in the U.S., stated that the league's deal with CBS and NBC "devalues its contract with the league’s in-house service." Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesperson, said he was unaware of dissatisfaction among NFL Network affiliates over the simulcast and if any were seeking a rebate or other form of compensation because the game was being more widely distributed. If that were
6844-458: The NFL insisted that the CFL move its schedule over a month earlier than it currently runs, so that the network can use the league to fill air time between the NFL draft and training camp . As such a change would require a rework of the league's collective bargaining agreement, it was unable to fulfill that request and instead renewed its agreement with ESPN. On January 31, 2019, NFL Network signed
6962-400: The NFL may terminate our rights. As a result these networks may be removed from lineups as soon as 5/1." On April 10, 2009, it was confirmed that Comcast would remove the channel on that date due to failing to reach a carriage agreement. However, on April 30, 2009, NFL Network announced that it would continue to be carried on Comcast in the interim while both sides tried to reach an agreemenet on
7080-753: The NFL season since 2020, and NFL Red Zone airs in the UK in its entirety on Sky Sports Mix. Since the 2017 season, NFL Network is a part of the IPTV subscription service DAZN , which also offers NFL RedZone to German viewers. NFL Network is available on NFL GamePass Free Tier. NFL RedZone is available on the Pro Tier. The launch of the Thursday Night Football package led NFL Network to increasingly insist on carriage on lower subscription tiers of television providers; in particular, demanding carriage on
7198-531: The NFL's television broadcasts. The on-field level of play was somewhat less well-received, being compared to NFL preseason levels, with numerous offensive miscues. SB Nation had a similar assessment, criticizing the game play as "much worse than... most of major college football ," while at the same time noting that the league's innovations were largely successful in making games more interesting. In an admittedly incomplete review, Peter King stated that although he would not yet draw any "major conclusions" about
SECTION 60
#17327800551287316-480: The Week 2 ratings were highly anticipated in the interest of developing trended data. In Week 2, the afternoon and evening games on Saturday, February 16, reportedly attracted 1,018,000 and 425,000 viewers, respectively, in addition to the Sunday evening game on February 17 drawing 424,000 viewers. Week 3's NFL Network games drew 491,000 and 515,000 viewers, benefiting in part due to a counterprogramming effort against
7434-572: The XFL but was unable to come to an agreement, as Ebersol wanted control of the XFL brand and was willing to pay $ 50 million for the trademark, which McMahon was unwilling to sell. In December 2018, two months before the AAF season began, Charlie Ebersol asked Vince McMahon about merging the AAF with the XFL. McMahon turned him down. The league was formally organized on February 6, 2018 as an interlocked web of five Delaware limited liability companies : Legendary Field Exhibitions, AAF Players, AAF Properties, LFE 2, and We Are Realtime, LLC. Each in turn
7552-506: The agreement after one season. Since 2019, NFL Network has annually carried the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic , a college football kickoff game that features a matchup of two historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) on the Sunday before Labor Day . The HBCU Legacy Bowl , a postseason all-star game involving draft-eligible HBCU players, also has broadcast rights held by NFL Network. In
7670-511: The agreement, MGM Resorts International owned all rights to the tech platform in the event the league ceases operations, preventing an investor from buying the league solely for access to the technology. Gambling functions were never implemented on the league's app, and many planned features for the app never materialized due to technical glitches and impracticality. The league also had player bonuses and scholarships, with player bonuses based on performance and fan interaction, players were to earn
7788-482: The broadcasts. Collinsworth won the Sports Emmy for best game analyst for his work on the NFL Network telecasts. Dick Vermeil replaced Collinsworth for two games in 2006; Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders replaced Collinsworth when needed in 2007. In the 2014 NFL season , the NFL established a sub-licensing agreement with CBS to increase the prominence of the Thursday Night Football package, under which
7906-484: The case, he said, those discussions would “take place privately with our TV partners.” On November 10, 2006, Comcast announced it would add NFL Network on its digital tier in time for the debut of Thursday Night Football . On August 6, 2007, Comcast moved NFL Network from the digital tiers to the Sports Entertainment Package . This led to a court battle between NFL Network and Comcast, with
8024-783: The company's sports tier. At that time, a court date had not been set. Four judges at the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, ruled the language "concerning additional programming package was ambiguous and that neither party has established that its interpretation of the relevant contracts is a matter of law. " Comcast's deal with the NFL Network was set to expire on April 30, 2009. According to messages sent out to Comcast, Midco , and some Cable Systems customers with or without set-top boxes , NFL Network might be removed from some customers' channel lineups. The message said: "In spite of our efforts to continue carrying NFL Network/NFL Network HD,
8142-463: The entire free preview schedule. Time Warner had made a similar announcement only hours earlier. Suddenlink agreed on December 22 to carry the entire free preview for their customers in West Texas. The free preview did not lead to long-term carriage deals, and the standoff continued between all three cable companies and the NFL Network. 2007 saw fresh controversy about the NFL Network. That year,
8260-445: The equipment for $ 400,000. Ebersol deliberately avoided making radical changes to the rules of the game so as to make it recognizable to the U.S. public. He stated that he used the average length of a feature film, slightly over two hours, as the basis for a typical fan's attention span . The Alliance operated as a single entity, with all teams owned and operated by the league, under the name Legendary Field Exhibitions LLC. Some of
8378-414: The facility also features NFL Media's first outdoor studio and space to host studio audiences. At the 2008 NFL draft , NFL Network unveiled a revised logo that was updated to match the revised NFL logo introduced around the same time. Unlike the updated logo for the league, the NFL Network's logo included subtle changes such as using a darker shade of blue and changing the "NFL" lettering to match that of
8496-648: The feed distributed in Canada to protect local rightsholders TSN and CTV 2 . NFL Network is also offered as part of DAZN 's NFL Game Pass service as of 2017. It was reported that the network would be made available in the United Kingdom in 2008. However, this did not come to pass although significant elements of NFL Network programming is now seen in the UK on Sky Sports . Almost every edition of Good Morning Football and NFL Total Access are broadcast by Sky Sports NFL , which Sky has operated throughout
8614-613: The first NFL simulcast since Super Bowl I and the first three-network simulcast in the history of the league. In addition, New York City area MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WWOR-TV (channel 9), and Hearst Television -owned ABC affiliates WCVB-TV (channel 5) in Boston and WMUR-TV (channel 9) in Manchester, New Hampshire , expressed dissatisfaction over the CBS/NBC simulcast, stating it violated their agreements with
8732-516: The first XFL game in Las Vegas in 2001, and remembered how disappointed his father was by the poor quality of play. To ensure professional-level football at launch, the AAF set out to hire coaches with professional football coaching and championship experience. On April 7, 2018, the first team, Orlando, was announced with its coach Steve Spurrier . By June 2018, the league had announced its eight inaugural teams and their cities. On July 30, 2018,
8850-549: The five AAF operating entities filed for joint Chapter 7 bankruptcy ( liquidation ) in Texas’ Eastern District . In the filing, the league claimed assets of $ 11.3 million, liabilities of $ 48.3 million, and approximately $ 536,000 in cash. The AAF counted its player contracts among its assets in the bankruptcy filing, blocking players from joining the Canadian Football League . This block was lifted
8968-661: The following colleges: Colleges National Football League (NFL) Canadian Football League (CFL) Memphis Express All times Central † Changed from original time and/or network. at Legion Field , Birmingham, Alabama at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium , Memphis, Tennessee at Spectrum Stadium , Orlando, Florida at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium , Memphis, Tennessee at Georgia State Stadium , Atlanta, Georgia at Rice–Eccles Stadium , Salt Lake City, Utah at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium , Memphis, Tennessee This
9086-458: The game and stated that it was still working toward resolving issues with the NFL Network over additional coverage rights. The result of these arrangements was that viewers in the New York, Boston and New Hampshire areas could see the game on up to four networks. Also in addition, satellite provider Dish Network and radio companies Sirius XM Radio and Entercom , expressed dissatisfaction over
9204-617: The game to the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas . On April 2, 2019, the AAF suspended all football operations, on orders from AAF chairman Tom Dundon . League co-founder Bill Polian stated: I am extremely disappointed to learn Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all football operations of the Alliance of American Football. When Mr. Dundon took over, it was the belief of my co-founder, Charlie Ebersol, and myself that we would finish
9322-635: The games broadcast by ESPN's Monday Night Football , the NFL Network telecasts are also aired on a designated broadcast television station in the primary markets of the participating teams, although prior to the suspension of blackout rules in 2015 stations in the home team's market only carried it if the televised game sold out all remaining available tickets 72 hours prior to the game's start time . When Thursday Night Football premiered, veteran television announcer Bryant Gumbel served as play-by-play announcer, with former Fox and current NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth serving as color commentator for
9440-501: The home markets of both participating teams, where the game is broadcast on a local station; in those affected areas, an alternate feed of NFL Network is shown instead with a different preseason game, documentary programming, or a previously aired game. Prior to 2014, NFL Network occasionally broadcast selected preseason games as special editions of Thursday Night Football , such as the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between
9558-636: The hotels where their teams were being housed—with some being personally charged for unpaid hotel bills —and required to pay their own way home; they also lost their health insurance and were forced to cover their own medical bills from injuries sustained during play. League employees were notified via an April 2 letter from the AAF board, which did not give a reason for ending the season, that their jobs were terminated as of April 3 with no severance . Ebersol and Dundon refused public comment; Ebersol would eventually speak out on April 17, stating that he had been advised not to speak by his attorneys. He insisted that
9676-473: The investors in the AAF included Peter Thiel 's Founders Fund , The Chernin Group (which owns Barstool Sports ), Jared Allen , Slow Ventures, Adrian Fenty , Charles King's M Ventures, and Keith Rabois . Long-term plans were for the AAF to sell franchises to individual owners. MGM Resorts International made an investment in the AAF tech platform, and entered a three-year sponsorship agreement to become
9794-561: The largest comeback victory in Division I FBS bowl game history, with Texas Tech coming back from a 38–7 third-quarter deficit to win 44–41 in overtime. On April 14, 2007, the network televised the Nebraska Cornhuskers ' spring football game. The network again aired the Insight, Texas and Senior bowls in late 2007 and early 2008. In addition, it carried two games between historically black colleges and universities during
9912-489: The latter of which does not register a rating in the Nielsens. In March 2019, building upon these ratings successes, both CBS and TNT added games to their packages; Turner Sports shifted two additional Saturday afternoon games from B/R Live to TNT (with B/R Live streaming a Skycam-only feed of the games as a companion), while CBS announced that it would shift two games from CBS Sports Network to broadcast television, including
10030-493: The league suspended operations, it was revealed that one of the league's major investors, former Minnesota Vikings minority owner Reggie Fowler , had indeed pulled his funding after the inaugural game, necessitating the abrupt sale to Dundon. It came out in late April that Fowler's funds had been frozen by the Department of Justice, after Fowler's indictment on charges of money laundering for cryptocurrency exchanges . He
10148-538: The league was buying the airtime or receiving the airtime for free as part of a partnership agreement. After the season ended, it was confirmed that the AAF had resorted to buying airtime and was unlikely to be able to extract a rights fee from any of its partners for its foreseeable future, a factor in Dundon's decision to withdraw his investment. CBS broadcast an ad for the league during its coverage of Super Bowl LIII . CBS Sports Network aired one game per week, and
10266-589: The league's Thursday games, three Saturday games during the month of July, and then Friday night games beginning in September (after ArenaBowl XXIII ). NFL Network did not air CFL games during August as it carried a heavy amount of NFL preseason game broadcasts. In addition, NFL Network did not carry any playoff games, including the Grey Cup championship, as those games are all played on Sundays opposite NFL regular season games. Those games were instead broadcast on
10384-443: The league's franchisees who was against the NFL Network deal, noting the predatory structure required the league to pay the network a brokerage fee but did not allow the league to sell advertising nor share in any advertising sales the network sold. In 2006, NFL Network began a foray into televising college football bowl games , acquiring rights to the newly established Texas Bowl in Houston (whose management rights were held by
10502-523: The league's official sports betting sponsor and exclusive gaming partner. The deal marked the first time any sports organization had sold exclusive in-game betting rights to a sportsbook. Scott Butera , MGM's director of interactive gaming (the division that signed an agreement with the AAF), was formerly the commissioner of the Arena Football League before his 2018 ouster. Under the terms of
10620-569: The league, he liked some of the rule changes but feared the overtime process would be a gimmick . Overnight Nielsen Ratings stated that the league-opening regionally televised games on CBS were the highest rated telecast of the night in the key demographic , drawing more viewers than an NBA game on ABC in the same time slot. In overall viewers, both the AAF and NBA lost to a rerun of America's Got Talent: The Champions on NBC. The NFL Network telecast that week secured 640,000 viewers. With these comparatively strong initial viewership statistics,
10738-482: The money he raised was there and had been vetted up until immediately before the season, claimed that reports of players being saddled with hotel and medical bills were either fake news or fraudulent charges, and could not ensure that all those owed money would be paid. On April 4, the AAF announced through their official Twitter account that players were eligible to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. The contracts that players had originally signed included
10856-448: The network airs a 8:30 am ET International game). On Thursdays, Mondays and anytime NFL Network airs a game, NFL GameDay Kickoff begins two hours prior to the game, with NFL GameDay Live airing during the game (for Thursdays and Mondays), or Live Game coverage (if it's airing the game), with NFL GameDay Final airing after the game. NFL Network held the broadcast rights to the revived Arena Football League from 2010 to 2012. Starting with
10974-555: The network happened to hold the rights to some match-ups with major implications. The first came in late November when the one-loss Dallas Cowboys hosted the one-loss Green Bay Packers . Green Bay's Brett Favre was also having one of the best seasons of his career and would eventually lead the resurgent Packers to the NFC Championship Game . Most fans could not see the game because of carriage restrictions, more noticeable because it involved nationally respected teams in
11092-401: The network has provided coverage of the NFL draft since 2006; its coverage competes with that provided by ESPN and ESPN2 . It was simulcast in a co-production with Fox Sports for the 2018 edition , though this was only a one-year agreement as exclusive over-the-air broadcast rights moved to ABC for the 2019 edition, which saw ESPN produce a different broadcast for 'casual' fans. In 2020,
11210-469: The network of malfeasance after he personally paid for one of his team's games to be televised only for the network never to carry it. Another league member, the Albany Firebirds , indicated that the network had refused to carry the games because the league had a number of small-market teams (including West Texas) that "scared (them) off." Oregon Blackbears president Patrick Johnson was among
11328-497: The network simulcast ESPN's coverage of that year's draft which was produced remotely from the basement of commissioner Roger Goodell ’s home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 8, 2021, the network moved with the rest of NFL Media to a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m ) space on the campus of Hollywood Park, a development that also features SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California . In addition to office and studio space,
11446-496: The network. The stations had already been scheduled to air the game, as per NFL rules. Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesperson, stated that NBC and CBS would not have agreed to present the simulcast without clearing the game nationally, including the aforementioned markets. WWOR came to an agreement with the network and showed the game along with WNBC and WCBS-TV (channel 2) in the New York City market. WCVB also would still televise
11564-447: The new league logo. During the 2012 NFL draft , the network debuted an overhauled logo resembling that used by sister network NFL Red Zone; the network also began to play down the "HD" branding used on-air, as the vast majority of cable providers currently carrying NFL Network transmit the channel's standard definition feed as a downscaled letterboxed version of the high definition feed. The logo, as with those of all NFL properties,
11682-495: The owners of the league's 32 teams voted unanimously to approve its formation. Originally located in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City , California , the league invested $ 100 million to fund the network's operations. NFL Films , which produces commercials, television programs, and feature films for the NFL, is a key supplier of NFL Network's programming, with more than 4,000 hours of footage available in its library. As
11800-564: The package beginning in the 2008 season, all of the games were branded as Thursday Night Football regardless of night beginning in 2009. Starting with the 2012 season , Thursday Night Football expanded to include a weekly game from Weeks 2 through 15 (excluding the Kickoff Game and Thanksgiving Day, which is held by NBC), as well as one Saturday night game during Week 16. As a result, every NFL team now appears in at least one timeslot-exclusive nationally televised game per-season. As with
11918-482: The possibility of partnering with ESPN to bolster NFL Network; one analyst suggested the possibility of NFL Network being combined into its lesser-viewed, but better-carried ESPN Classic channel. NFL Network offered a free preview from December 24 to 30, 2006 to Suddenlink Communications systems in West Texas , and to Time Warner Cable and Cablevision systems in the New York City area. The package included
12036-445: The regular season from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time ). RedZone provides "whip around" coverage of all Sunday afternoon games airing in-progress on CBS and Fox . Whenever a team enters the red zone , the coverage will switch full-screen over to the live feed of that game's television broadcast, and attempt to cover a potential scoring result (touchdown or field goal). The coverage
12154-430: The ruling in favor of Comcast; the NFL Network later appealed the ruling. Comcast sent NFL Network a cease-and-desist letter to stop encouraging subscribers to drop their Comcast service. Comcast's carriage agreement with the NFL Network ended in mid-2009. On February 26, 2008, a New York appellate court reversed course on a May 2007 judgment that allowed Comcast to move the network from its second-most distributed tier to
12272-470: The season, pay our creditors, and make the necessary adjustments to move forward in a manner that made economic sense for all. The momentum generated by our players, coaches and football staff had us well positioned for future success. Regrettably, we will not have that opportunity. Players found out about the suspension through the Internet before their coaches confirmed the news. Players were evicted from
12390-521: The sideline, as opposed to having more than one high camera). Half of the games broadcast each week were produced off-site from Sneaky Big Studios in Scottsdale, Arizona : graphics (which were provided by CBS), Skycam operations, and commentary were performed remotely from the Scottsdale site, as well as studio coverage for all games (via a virtual studio ). Ebersol did not disclose whether or not
12508-597: The team announced they had signed Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel . On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were suspended, and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. On April 17, 2019, the league announced the cessation of business operations after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends Defensive linemen Defensive backs Special teams Rights list 50 Active, 14 Inactive The Express' assigned area, which designated player rights, included
12626-424: The technology platform by the end of the league's operations in a desperate attempt to keep the league financially viable. Ebersol had admitted prior to the start of the season that, on numerous occasions, the AAF had come dangerously close to folding before its first game due to various unstated complications. When asked whether some of the AAF's initial investors had dropped out, Ebersol declined to answer. After
12744-551: The total coaching staff expenditures at around $ 2 million per staff and $ 16 million for the entire league. On February 18, 2019, the league announced that Tom Dundon , whose other holdings include the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL) and TopGolf , agreed to invest $ 250 million into the league. He was also named the new chairman of the AAF, and Dundon reportedly received
12862-402: Was a professional American football minor league . The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan areas with at least one major professional sports franchise . Founded by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian in 2018, the AAF began play on February 9, 2019. The league was scheduled to have
12980-491: Was both poorly executed and, from an on-field standpoint, bad football. He began developing the AAF in February 2017, about the same time that word had come out about XFL co-founder Vince McMahon possibly reviving the old XFL brand (which McMahon would indeed do in 2020). Exhibits in a lawsuit filed by Robert Vanech, who claimed to have co-founded the AAF, state that Ebersol had originally approached McMahon about relaunching
13098-476: Was controlled by Ebersol through his own entity as manager, Ebersol Sports Media Group, Inc., while minority investors held stakes in one or more of the LLC entities. The AAF was announced on March 20, 2018. Ebersol sought to focus on creating a solid football product in the hopes that it would attract fans. He hired a team of experienced football players, coaches and executives to prepare the league for launch. The AAF
13216-421: Was later sentenced to over six years in prison. In early March 2019, it was revealed by Bill Polian that the AAF and National Football League were in informal discussions about a system where players under contract to NFL teams could be loaned to AAF teams. The idea would have been for NFL teams to assign their third-string quarterback and other players from the bottom half of their roster and practice squads to
13334-455: Was overseen by former NFL general manager Bill Polian , former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu , and executive J. K. McKay . Advisers also include former Steelers receiver Hines Ward , former New York Giants and Oakland Raiders defensive end Justin Tuck , retired referee and current Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira , and Ebersol's father, Dick Ebersol. Ebersol attended
13452-540: Was scheduled to air one of the playoff games. In addition to local stations, TNT was announced as broadcasting two games per season (one regular season and a playoff game which later was expanded to include three regular season games) while NFL Network aired two weekly games. Turner's B/R Live streamed one game a week, and the league's mobile app offered an alternate "AAF Raw" feed for most games (excluding those carried by CBSSN), which featured no commentary or graphics. Integrated fantasy games were available through
13570-479: Was the Patriots' record-sealing win that made them the first undefeated team through the regular season in 35 years. Kerry urged for a solution to be decided upon in time so that Americans could witness "a historic event". An agreement was worked out between the NFL and two of the league's television partners, NBC and CBS, to allow the NFL Network broadcast of the game to be simulcast on those networks, resulting in
13688-621: Was the first overtime game in AAF history. Despite newly signed quarterback Johnny Manziel playing a few series for the Express, starter Brandon Silvers led the team to a comeback victory, keeping its slim postseason chances alive. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium , Memphis, Tennessee In addition to league-wide television coverage through NFL Network , CBS Sports Network , TNT , and B/R Live , Memphis' games were also broadcast on local radio by KWNW , an iHeartMedia station branded as 101.9 Kiss FM. Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football ( AAF )
13806-658: Was tinted gold during the 2015 NFL season in commemoration of Super Bowl 50 . The network unveiled an updated ticker at the start of the 2017 season, replacing the one used since the 2012 rebranding. It would be changed again for the start of the 2023 season. NFL Network introduced original game broadcasts in the 2006 season via the Run to the Playoffs —a late-season package of Thursday- and Saturday-night games, branded as Thursday Night Football and Saturday Night Football respectively. After most Saturday games were dropped from
13924-515: Was willing to end his investment before the season ended, possibly as soon as after Week 8, which would cut off the league's cash flow and force it to immediately fold with the playoffs and championship left unplayed. As Week 8 passed, Dundon reiterated his stance on April 1, stating he was still willing to pull his funding before the next week's game. Ultimately, the AAF lost an estimated $ 88 million overall, earning only $ 12 million in revenue against its $ 100 million expenses. In late February 2019,
#127872