Well, that’s a real shame. No more Iron Mike on Sunday night C4.
Yes-real shame this. Surely someone will want the Sunday Night Game and Mike has to get the gig
I agree, really sad. Do we know the reason? I wonder if its due to the increased popularity of the sport in the UK, which strangely enough may have caused a greater awareness and use of GP.
I think you will find they simply could not afford to hold onto it anymore.
When you think about the sport the popularity is growing again as our own sport suffers under its own system.
That encourages diving and cheating at every turn. Not that American football does not have its share of issues but you can go from worst to first.
Most people understand how tough these players are it has parity our own national game can never have.
Anyway the point is it’s big business again and I’m sure someone else will pick it up…
MLS, give it 10 years and it shall be up there with the premiership and La Liga. They have the desire to lead it there, the money to bring in big players, the American know how that creates great sporting occasions and people want to live in America. Their next target are players in their late twenties and when they reach that players of all ages will start going there. Its just a matter of time. I do agree with your sentiments Sean, the artificial incidents, poor refereeing and corruption at the top of football/soccer means I just don’t watch it anymore.
Funny I was thinking how well the MLS was doing too although my theory is they need a real home grown star to take it to next level
Money talks so the European stronghold may be under threat one day - it’s seems the same names are winning things over and over and that’s mainly money driven
As for C4 it will always go down in folklore here but I’ve noticed their programming choices not fit as much as it used to so someone else will snap it up - even the most beautiful days have their sunsets
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I agree Shani, when the US develop a soccer hero the sport will go boom in the US! The thing is, for now they have to buy players to come and play but in doing that it will only increase interest in the American young. A star will come through in the next 5 years I reckon.
Will anybody else pick it up? With the IS games being streamed for free and GP taking grip in the UK I wont be suprised if nobody does take up the contract that C4 let go. They let it go for a reason.
Looks like the BBC have it, can’t see them having a presenting team
Couldn’t find any proper sources on that, but one Twitter account mentioned it. Not sure I fully buy it yet, but it is pretty much a toss up between the BBC and BT Sport anyway, so might be accurate.
Iron Mike confirms that C4 nolonger have the NFL, it appears the BBC have some games, but it looks like the Sunday night games will either go to Sky Sports or no one.
Some guy on the NFLUK forums ( http://forum.nfluk.com/showthread.php?t=105949&page=16 ) is basically saying it looks like the BBC will show the Super Bowl and have the Wembley/Play-off games shown behind the red button, with Sky taking the rest. If that’s the case, that’s a complete backwards step for the NFL in the UK, without any decent terrestrial coverage they won’t acquire any new fans. Genuinely a real shame.
That’s a good point Adam, of course NFL fans are needed and enjoyed from all over the UK. I guess one counter might be that country wide growth will hopefully become a major focus of those running the sport when London has its own up and coming franchise. When that happens they will soon realise the potential up and down the country and the need for support from travelling fans. Seems silly to have to wait that long but at this point I guess the broadcasters are looking at pure mula rather than sport growth.
If the BBC do not cover a game in the same way Channel 4 / Channel 5 have done, perhaps SKY should step in and broadcast the game on one of their many non-sports channels.
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Pick TV would be the best option for a Sky-owned Freeview channel.
Sunday Night Football has gone to Sky Sports.
But Channel 4 said the BBC have the NFL license, so I presume this also means the BBC will show the International Series, Super Bowl, etc. Probably on BBC2/3/4 behind the red button (plus a secret handshake).
Yep Sky Sports have it all live this year (& next) including Monday Night Football to - don’t really affect me as I will use GamePass and get round blackouts with a VPN but don’t see how this grows the game and gets in new fans when it’s on a paid subscription sports channel only (with maybe a few exceptions being the IS games and Super Bowl Highlights on terrestrial - possibly! 
One stat i would love to know is Gamepass subscribers number
It’s hard to know because I suspect all of us here have been sort of self educated with the game but I think it isn’t a game you can just pick up instantly -apart from feats of athleticsm which a newbie might be impressed with
It would be great if there was a football Italian (remember that) magazine show on free TV even it that channel doesn’t show live
Totally agree - when I was a kid that’s how I got into the NFL with magazine shows like ‘Blitz’ on C4 of a Sunday morning with highlights of all the previous weeks games.
I would expect the NFL to realise that they need fanship up and down the country when they land a franchise here and from there take on the challenge of educating the country about the sport, if they don’t realise that or don’t think its required they may as well give up now as London will not be enough on its own long term.