Pluto TV's NFL Channel Will Feature Programming Dedicated to the NFL's 100th Season Celebration, Plus Action-Packed Games and Moments From Years Past, Classic Highlights, Past Seasons of NFL Films Award-Winning Series "Hard Knocks" and More
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 9, 2020) – The National Football League (NFL) and Pluto TV, the leading free ad-supported streaming television service in the U.S., today announced the extension of their partnership. Pluto TV's channel celebrating the NFL (Ch. 465) will continue to stream the most iconic and classic moments spanning over a decade of past seasons, to their growing audience of over 24 million users - for free.
The NFL Channel on Pluto TV is a specially curated feed of iconic library content devoted to providing NFL fans the best that NFL Films and NFL Media productions have to offer. Among the new programming coming to the NFL Channel are several series dedicated to the NFL 100 season-long celebration in 2019 including NFL's 100 Greatest, NFL 100 All-Time Team and NFL 100 Generations. The NFL Channel will continue highlighting programming like the award-winning series Hard Knocks, along with top-performing series such as NFL Game Replay, SOUND FX, NFL Top 10, Around the NFL and more. The channel will also continue showcasing highlights from the game dating back over a decade, and replays of some of the most iconic matchups in NFL history.
"For the many avid football fans that are part of Pluto TV's audience, having yearlong access to NFL content beyond the regular season is priceless," said Jeff Shultz, EVP and Chief Business Officer at Pluto TV. "With an incredible lineup of award-winning programming, alongside some of the most memorable highlights, replays and matchups of the past decade, we are excited to be able to offer this evergreen content to our viewers, no matter the season."
The channel will be continuously refreshed with new content including NFL Top 100 Players of 2019 and digitally-produced recaps, previews, press conferences, moments and more.
"We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Pluto TV that provides fans with more exciting NFL content including our critically-acclaimed programming celebrating the NFL 100 season last year," said Jesse Wallace, NFL Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Distribution. "NFL fans enjoy having access to our classic games and programming year-round, and we're proud to give Pluto viewers access to more exciting content from their favorite teams and players."
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| $1.37 Million Awarded in HeadHealthTECH Grant Funding to NFL Helmet Challenge Applicants |
Funding will support innovators competing to create a new, top-performing football helmet
New York, NY (June 30, 2020) – The National Football League (NFL) and Football Research, Inc. (FRI) today awarded $1.37 million in HeadHealthTECH grant funding to four teams of innovators to support the creation of their helmet prototypes to be submitted as part of the ongoing NFL Helmet Challenge, a contest with an additional prize of $1 million.
The NFL Helmet Challenge is an innovation challenge that aims to stimulate the development by experts, innovators and helmet manufacturers of a new helmet for NFL players that outperforms, based on specified laboratory testing, all helmets currently worn by NFL players. The $1.37 million in grant funding awarded today is an extension of the NFL's HeadHealthTECH Challenge funding series and was designed to facilitate broad participation in the NFL Helmet Challenge. Applicants will use HeadHealthTECH Challenge funds to bolster their entry into the NFL Helmet Challenge competition. HeadHealthTECH funding is not required to participate in the NFL Helmet Challenge and other applicants are invited and encouraged to participate.
The Helmet Challenge will culminate in July 2021 with applicants submitting helmet prototypes for laboratory testing used by the NFL-NFLPA engineers to rank helmets over the last six years.
Awardees of HeadHealthTECH Helmet Challenge grant funding are as follows. Their submission descriptions appear in italics below as described by the winners in their grant applications.
- Christopher Yakacki | Impressio, Inc. and CU Denver
Denver, Colorado - $491,999
Impressio, Inc. and CU Denver, relying on materials science research and additive manufacturing, are looking to create unprecedented energy-dissipating helmet liners using ultra-dissipative liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) and lattice designs to 3D-print player-specific helmet liners to reduce concussions. This project is supported by partners including EOS, nTopology, and Schutt.
- Xenith, RHEON, BASF, The University of Waterloo | Xenith Project Orbit
Detroit, Michigan - $412,000
Xenith, an industry leader in football equipment, is looking to bring together experts in injury biomechanics, additive manufacturing, material science, design and computational modeling and optimization – BASF, RHEON Labs and The University of Waterloo – to create a new solution for energy management and a best-in-class on-field experience for the athlete.
- Eric Wagnac (ETS) and Franck LeNaveaux | Kollide
Montreal, Québec - $238,545
The Kollide consortium combines the expertise of academic researchers (ETS) and four innovative Montreal-based companies (Kupol, Tactix, ShapeShift3D, Numalogics) who are looking to use their virtual design and non-planar 3D printing approach to create helmets customized to the player's head with a custom liner optimized to absorb and redirect impact.
- Matthew Panzer | UVA, Nama Development and Topologica, Inc.
Charlottesville, Virginia - $223,047
Dr. Panzer and collaborators are looking to use their innovative cubic + octet foam metamaterial to design a new energy absorbing layer in a football helmet that will minimize risk of concussion.
"By bringing together experts from multiple disciplines, the NFL Helmet Challenge aims to encourage revolutionary advances in helmet design," said Jeff Miller, NFL Executive Vice President of Communications, Public Affairs and Policy, who oversees the NFL's health and safety work. "The awardees demonstrated the potential to do just that. We're very excited to support their efforts and test their prototypes next year. This is one more sign of the recent transformation in the protective equipment space – more in the last couple of years than over the previous decade – and we are committed to keeping this momentum going."
"The extraordinarily high level of engagement and breadth of innovative work happening right now in the protective equipment space is exciting to see," said Dr. Barry Myers, Director of Innovation at Duke University's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (Duke CTSI), who chairs the Oversight Committee that selected the winners. "The four winners awarded today all demonstrated the ability to develop a winning helmet, but there is definitely more to come from many of the other teams and start-ups we saw submit proposals and we look forward to opportunities to support these entrepreneurs in the future."
The HeadHealthTECH Challenge grant funding is just one of the many resources that the NFL has brought to bear to support potential applicants throughout the NFL Helmet Challenge process. Other available resources include those developed through the Engineering Roadmap, such as NFL video review data and finite element models of modern football helmets. Additionally, the NFL hosted a symposium in November 2019 to kick off the challenge, which brought together 300 engineers, manufacturing experts and innovators from across the country for three days of information-sharing and collaboration. The symposium provided potential applicants, including many of today's grant winners, with background on the current state of the science around helmets and head injuries in the NFL and information on the challenge and available resources.
About the HeadHealthTECH Challenge Series
The HeadHealthTECH Challenge series is one component of the Engineering Roadmap, a $60-million comprehensive effort – funded by the NFL and managed by FRI – to improve the understanding of the biomechanics of head injuries in professional football and to create incentives for helmet manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, universities and others to develop and commercialize new and improved protective equipment, including helmets.
FRI awards the most promising HeadHealthTECH Challenge proposals with monetary grants and in-kind support. A panel of expert judges selected by Duke CTSI, in collaboration with FRI, reviews and provides feedback to all proposals. Every HeadHealthTECH Challenge applicant is invited to reapply and receives constructive feedback from Duke CTSI biomechanical experts to help refine innovations and increase chances for success on future submissions.
The HeadHealthTECH Challenges have awarded more than $1.6 million in grants to date to help advance the development of 13 new technologies:
- Winners of TECH Challenge I, announced in April 2017, are VyaTek Sports for its highly efficient energy-absorbing Zorbz technology and Guardian Innovations for its Guardian Cap technology – a soft helmet cover designed to reduce the severity of impacts.
- Winners of TECH Challenge II, announced in October 2018, are 2ND Skull, to research the effectiveness of its 2nd Skull® skull cap in reducing impact forces and developing a second-generation version; Baytech Products, for its prototype HitGard® multi-component helmet system concept; and Windpact, for its Crash Cloud™, an impact liner system using restricted air flow and foam in helmets and protective gear.
- Winners of TECH Challenge III, announced in May 2018, are Impressio, Inc. for its ultra-dissipative padding made from liquid-crystal elastomers (LCEs); HRL Laboratories, LLC, to support the development and testing of its novel impact-attenuating pads for football helmets; and AES Research & Design for the testing of its anti-rotational kinematic (ARK) helmet prototype.
- Winners of TECH Challenge IV, announced in July 2018, are FieldTurf Inc. for its all-new sports surface; Corsair Innovations, Inc. for its FEAM material; and Yobel Technologies, LLC for its faceguard.
- Winner of TECH Challenge V, announced in November 2018, is Cardiff University, for its unique padding material for use as a helmet liner.
- Winners of TECH Challenge VI, announced in March 2019, are Windpact to tailor its Crash Cloud™ technology for use in Schutt's AirXP Pro Q10 helmet, and Auxadyne, for its energy absorbing XPF material.
About the NFL's Health and Safety Initiatives
The NFL is committed to advancing progress in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries. As part of the NFL's ongoing health and safety efforts, in September 2016, Commissioner Goodell launched Play Smart. Play Safe. — a league-wide health and safety initiative. At the heart of the initiative is a pledge of $100 million in support of independent medical research and engineering advancements and a commitment to try to protect our players and make our game safer, including through enhancements to medical protocols and improvements to how our game is taught and played. For more information about the NFL's health and safety efforts, please visit www.NFL.com/PlayerHealthAndSafety.
| Commissioner Goodell Statement on Detroit Lions |
Martha Ford has led the Lions with skill and grace for the past six seasons. I have appreciated her business insights, her love of the game, her deep commitment to the NFL, and her personal kindness. We are pleased that the Ford family will continue to own and operate this historic franchise. Sheila Hamp has become increasingly involved in team and league affairs over the past several years and we look forward to working with her and the rest of the club's executive team.
| NFL Network and NFL RedZone No Longer Available on DISH and Sling TV |
LOS ANGELES, June 18, 2020: As of 9 pm ET NFL Network and NFL RedZone are no longer available to DISH and Sling TV subscribers. While NFL Media remains committed to negotiating an agreement and has offered terms consistent with those in place with other distributors, DISH has not agreed.
Without a distribution agreement in place for NFL Network and NFL RedZone, DISH and Sling subscribers will miss out on daily shows Good Morning Football, NFL Total Access and NFL Now and a newly launched Player's Choice series featuring classic games and long-form storytelling from the NFL Films archive.
For the upcoming season, NFL Network remains the only place to watch all 65 preseason games, including a record 23 live out-of-market games. Regular season action on NFL Network continues with a slate of exclusive games kicking off with a trio of matchups at the start of the NFL Season in addition to two Saturday doubleheaders in Weeks 15 & 16. In addition to games, Sunday coverage on NFL Network features the most comprehensive pregame show on television – the Emmy-nominated NFL GameDay Morning.
An icon of the sports programming landscape, NFL RedZone takes fans from game to game to see the most exciting plays as they happen. With host Scott Hanson, fans can follow the best of live NFL action from across the country and every touchdown from every game Sunday afternoons.
NFL content has never been more popular across the media landscape. According to the Nielsen Company, 180 million people tuned into the 2019 NFL regular season with an average of 16.5 million watching per game. NFL games accounted for 47 of the 50 most-watched TV shows among all programming during the 2019 regular season.
As the only network 100% dedicated to coverage of America's most popular sports league, NFL Network is committed to serving the millions of NFL fans by reaching fair distribution agreements with the pay-TV industry.
NFL Network continues to be widely distributed across the United States, including distribution agreements with major cable, satellite, telco, and OTT providers throughout the country -- including DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Verizon FiOS, Fubo TV, Altice USA Optimum and Cox .
| HBO SPORTS AND NFL FILMS RETURN WITH HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES, CHRONICLING THE PRESEASON OF THE CHARGERS AND RAMS |
HBO SPORTS® AND NFL FILMS RETURN WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED EDITION OF TELEVISION’S MOST ACCLAIMED SPORTS REALITY FRANCHISE
WHEN HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES,
CHRONICLING THE PRESEASON OF THE CHARGERS AND RAMS
DEBUTS AUGUST 11, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
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HBO Sports, NFL Media And NFL Films
Announce Multi-Year Renewal Of The Franchise
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HBO Sports, NFL Films and the two Los Angeles-based NFL franchises are teaming up for an unprecedented and unfiltered all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES kicks off its five-episode season this summer. One of the fastest-turnaround programs on TV, the 15th edition of the 18-time Sports Emmy®-winning series debuts TUESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other hour-long episodes of the first sports-based reality series debuting subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.
HARD KNOCKS will have encore plays Wednesday nights and will be available to stream on HBO via HBO Max and partners’ platforms.
In an unprecedented programming move, the 2020 edition of the venerable series will spotlight both Los Angeles NFL teams: The Los Angeles Chargers of the AFC West and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFC West. The two franchises are set to share the spectacular new 70,000-seat SoFi stadium that is nearing completion in Inglewood, California.
The arrival of HARD KNOCKS each August is a unique NFL tradition and NFL FILMS and HBO Sports are making plans for an all-new season of the most acclaimed serialized sports series on television.
One of sports television’s most successful and enduring partnerships, HBO Sports, NFL Media and NFL Films have reached agreement on a multi-year extension of the HARD KNOCKS franchise.
“The HARD KNOCKS franchise continues to excel as the preeminent sports reality series,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “Our partnership with NFL Films, which dates back to 1977, consistently produces groundbreaking television programming. We are grateful to the Chargers and Rams organizations to be able to present the 2020 training camp experience.”
“NFL Films cherishes the relationship we’ve had with HBO for over four decades, and specifically with the HARD KNOCKS franchise since 2001,” says NFL Films senior executive Ross Ketover. “To be able to announce this extension as we embark on an unprecedented two team series this summer brings us incredible pride and only heightens our excitement for the return of football.”
Camera crews will head to southern California in the next few weeks to begin filming, with the action heating up in August when the cinéma vérité show focuses on the daily lives and routines of players and coaches.
Under fourth-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are just a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have a roster featuring an intriguing mix of high-profile players, established veterans, and free-agent acquisitions.
After an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers are looking for a return to the winning formula that helped them finish tied for the AFC’s best record in 2018. Led by fourth-year head coach Anthony Lynn, the Chargers overhauled roster features young, rising stars on both sides of the ball, a new quarterback behind center and an influx of veteran talent added this offseason.
Both franchises will also be debuting new logos and uniforms when they open their new, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium home later this year.
Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn said, “Having been part of Hard Knocks before when I was with the New York Jets, my biggest takeaway from that whole experience was that you get out of it what you put into it. There’s a reason that season was probably the most popular Hard Knocks ever. If you’re going to do a show, do it right. You can’t fake it. We didn’t have a problem providing access because we built a relationship with the crew. There was a mutual trust that exists to this day with those people, and many of them will actually be working on this year’s show. Broadcasting your internal business all over the world isn’t something you regularly want to do, but in a year with as many challenges as this one has had, I’m glad we can be part of bringing football back to the fans this summer.”
“We are looking forward to having Hard Knocks in our camp this year,” said Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay. “Hard Knocks always offers a rare opportunity for our fans to see our players’ hard work to prepare for the season, as well as gives them a peek behind the curtain to observe these guys off the field, too. This year will be special because the show will also get an unprecedented look at SoFi Stadium, Stan Kroenke’s vision for professional football in L.A.”
Dedicated NFL Films production crews will be in both southern California training camps, shooting more than 2,300 hours of footage over the course of the series, offering an inside look at the daily rigors of an NFL training camp. With access to players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields, HARD KNOCKS will document hours of conditioning practices and meetings, chronicling players as they compete for a roster spot and bond off the field.
HBO has aired 72 memorable episodes and one anniversary special in its first 14 seasons. No other sports reality series can match the production excellence, critical acclaim, awards and audience numbers posted by HARD KNOCKS. Episodes have averaged four million viewers over the past four years.
Winner of 18 Sports Emmy® Awards to date, HARD KNOCKS launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, and resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, subsequently spotlighting the Cowboys (2008), Cincinnati Bengals (2009), New York Jets (2010), Miami Dolphins (2012), Bengals (2013), Atlanta Falcons (2014), Houston Texans (2015) and Los Angeles Rams (2016). The 2017 edition chronicled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and captured the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Serialized Documentary. The widely acclaimed 2018 series with the Cleveland Browns earned two Sports Emmy® Awards for production excellence. HARD KNOCKS has won a Sports Emmy® every year it has aired since 2008.
Eight of the last ten teams featured on HARD KNOCKS have equaled or improved their win-loss record in the regular season. The Cleveland Browns launched the transformation of their organization on HBO and went from a winless 2017 season to coming within half a game (7-8-1) of a .500 campaign. The 2019 season saw the Raiders improve their record to 7-9 from the previous year’s 4-12 mark. The series featuring the iconic Raider franchise averaged 4.3 million viewers per episode, generating the highest viewership for the show since 2015 and the second-best viewership numbers for HARD KNOCKS in the past ten years.
Washington Post wrote, “Turning football players into people is what HBO’s HARD KNOCKS series does so well. The massive scope, meticulous editing and time-hopping special effects that highlight a production under massive time constraints are all impressive, but it’s the film crew’s access to NFL players that makes the program special.” USA Today said, “Players’ lives and their hopes and dreams play out each NFL preseason on HARD KNOCKS. It’s that month-long human drama that makes the show so profoundly compelling.”
Winner of 129 Sports Emmy® Awards, NFL Films remains a gold standard in sports television, providing unprecedented access to and legendary storytelling about the sport of professional football. NFL Films is a part of NFL Media, the owned and operated media division of the National Football League, which is comprised of NFL Network, NFL Films, the NFL App, NFL.com and NFL RedZone.
HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES will be narrated by Liev Schreiber, marking his 14th season with the show.
ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes Will Televise
2021 NFL Pro Bowl from Las Vegas
AFC vs. NFC All-Star game will originate from Allegiant
Stadium for the first time, January 31, 2021
ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes will televise the 2021 Pro Bowl from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, January 31. The National Football League officially announced the Las Vegas Raiders’ new stadium as the site of the game today.
“When the National Football League kicks off its first season in Las Vegas, we are delighted that ESPN and ABC will present two of the marquee events at Allegiant Stadium. We will celebrate the NFL’s top players at the Pro Bowl and showcase the Raiders’ first regular-season home game at their new world-class venue,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN Executive Vice President of Programming.
The 2021 Pro Bowl will continue to be a weeklong celebration of football, and will feature various activities in Las Vegas including the NFL FLAG Championship games, AFC and NFC team practices and, for the fifth consecutive year, the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown, where the NFL’s biggest stars from each conference compete in unique tests of their skills.
All NFL activities during Pro Bowl week will adhere to the latest public safety guidelines set by medical and public health officials, as well as operate in full compliance of all local and federal government regulations.
The 2021 Pro Bowl presented by Verizon will follow the traditional AFC versus NFC format and feature 88 of the best NFL players – 44 from each conference – as determined by a consensus of votes by fans, players, and coaches. Both teams will be led by offensive and defensive NFL Legends who will serve as captains representing each conference.
Tickets will go on sale later this year, but fans interested in receiving the latest Pro Bowl information may register at NFL.com/VegasPB for a chance to win a VIP trip to the Pro Bowl and other presale opportunities.
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