AFL on NBC

The AFL on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of

Promotions for the network's AFL game telecasts featured famed former NFL player John Elway, accompanied by the song "Rumble" by Bon Jovi, the band fronted by Philadelphia Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi, with the lyrics "Come on feel the thunder. There's a rumble in the house!" The song was featured on the band's CD "There's A Rumble In The House!," which was published by NBC sister company Universal Music Group.

OLN's coverage

For the

The network's broadcast of ArenaBowl XX in 2006 earned NBC a considerably disappointing 0.7% of the U.S. households; the small audience for the 2006 ArenaBowl was the culmination of a season that earned NBC 0.9% of the U.S. households. This was down from the inaugural 2003 season of The AFL on NBC, which earned a 1.1% share;[4] in contrast, even at its lowest, the XFL, which aired in 2001, was drawing 1.6% of U.S. households for its NBC broadcasts.^[5]

Criticism

NBC's coverage received sharp criticism from some longtime AFL fans and owners such as Jon Bon Jovi.

In 2006, due to the

The end of The AFL on NBC

On June 30, 2006, the Arena Football League and NBC Sports failed to reach an agreement to extend their broadcasting contract, ending the network's association with the AFL after four years. League commissioner David Baker said regarding the end of the partnership, "NBC has been a great partner. We are forever grateful to them for exhibiting our game with the utmost respect and integrity. We wish them well, but are also excited to begin a new chapter that will continue our unprecedented growth." NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer responded, "Unfortunately we were unable to reach an agreement. We've enjoyed our partnership with the Arena Football League. It's a great game with great people. We wish them all the best." In an interview with The New York Times, NBC spokesman Mike McCarley stated, "we gave Arena Football our best effort, with top production and significant promotion, but the ratings never grew."

During an August 2006 segment of Larry King's interview with owner Jon Bon Jovi, a new deal was hinted at being in development, one that would be superior to its previous agreement with NBC. In December 2006, a deal was struck with ABC/ESPN to broadcast AFL regular season and playoff games.^[7] ESPN also assumed partial ownership of the league itself. Las Vegas Gladiators owner Jim Ferraro stated during a radio interview that the reason why a renewed deal with NBC failed was because ESPN refused to show highlights of the games or even mention a product being broadcast on NBC.

Personalities

Studio commentary

The pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show was anchored by Al Trautwig and analyst Glenn Parker throughout its run. In 2003, Michael Irvin also provided studio analysis, but that role was subsequently filled with guest analysts, including Ray Bentley, Danny White, Tommy Maddox and Kurt Warner.

Game commentary

NBC’s primary AFL broadcast team was the same team which called Notre Dame football games for the network, with play-by-play Tom Hammond and analyst Pat Haden, with sideline reporter Lewis Johnson.

The secondary broadcast team consisted of Bob Papa on play-by-play with Ray Bentley as the analyst and Marty Snider as the sideline reporter. Usually a tertiary broadcast was included with NBC’s NASCAR lead broadcaster heading it; originally the role belonged to Allen Bestwick, but after Bill Weber replaced him on race casts he also took over for Bestwick in AFL coverage.

Other broadcasters included former TNN Arena Football and NASCAR broadcaster Eli Gold, color commentators Mike Pawlawski and Charles Davis, and sideline reporter Steve Wrigley.

See also

• XFL

References