NFL fans celebrated the return of Sunday afternoon football by tuning in to watch the popular program ‘NFL RedZone’ – where they could watch ‘seven hours’ of continuous football from games around the country.
The program, hosted by Scott Hanson, is one of the most popular subscription shows in the country as fans get to see each game even if it’s not in their market.
The operation behind this is Hanson plus a team of producers at NFL Network who monitor up to nine games simultaneously each Sunday.
With this Sunday marking the first week of the season, a video of the behind-the-scenes action has gone viral.
In it, a studio with multiple monitors and employees shows each moment happening across the league.
Standing among them all is Hanson, who played football in college at Syracuse, as the broadcaster orchestrated and narrated each action.
A TikTok showed the behind-the-scenes action of Scott Hanson (blue suit) and NFL RedZone
The video showed a rare glimpse into the operation bringing action from each NFL game
It’s a rare glimpse into the nitty gritty for the program, which is at the center of controversy in recent days about the sudden inclusion of advertisements.
The rights to the famously ad-free show will be acquired by ESPN in a yet-to-be-finalized deal announced last month, and that has apparently coincided with massive change.
Hanson appeared on the Pat McAfee Show this past Wednesday and revealed a modified version of his signature catchphrase.
‘Seven hours of RedZone starts now,’ he said, removing the phrase ‘commercial-free football’ like he used to say.
Hanson, who has hosted the show since it began in 2009, added: ‘The business folks handle the business, and I have no say over different elements that could or could not be in the show.’
However, he added that commercials would be timed as not to disrupt important moments.
‘We’re not going to sacrifice any great football,’ he said. ‘We will not miss a touchdown.’
According to the Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp, the ads will come in a double-box format – with one box showing the commercial and the other showing RedZone action. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand also said that the decision to air commercials on RedZone has nothing to do with ESPN, which will still leave production of the show to the NFL when their deal is closed.
Recently, Hanson announced the famously ad-free show would soon air advertisements
Nonetheless, fans were none too pleased with the major change to the show.
‘The NFL is such a money grab they ruin every good thing,’ one wrote on X.
‘It’s dead. The greatest television offering in the history of sports is dead,’ another said. ‘Corporate greed has ruined RedZone.’
And a third bemoaned that it was: ‘The end of an era. One of the saddest days in human history.’
The change has come after the NFL and ESPN struck a proposed deal for the league to gain a 10 percent equity stake in the network, with ESPN acquiring NFL Network and linear rights to RedZone.
