Everyone loves the NFL RedZone Channel. As far as popularity goes, if you could bottle up the RedZone Channel into a human being and have it run for president, it would win all 50 states in a landslide.
But where does it stand in the annals of television history?
It might not surprise you, but the NFL thinks highly of the innovation. Speaking at a Sports Business Journal Conference, the NFL’s chief media officer Brian Rolapp had some high, high, high, high praise for the concept. He called the Redzone Channel “the greatest linear channel ever created.”
“The Redzone Channel might be the greatest linear channel ever created.” — NFL chief media officer Brian Rolapp at @SBJ Media Innovators
— Joe Lemire (@LemireJoe) November 20, 2024
So let’s break down the case…
First of all, there has to be a disclaimer here. Even though the NFL’s own version with Scott Hanson was the one that survived the NFL’s new Sunday Ticket deal with YouTube TV before last season, it was the DirecTV version with Andrew Siciliano that was founded first. The Siciliano version launched in 2005 while the Hanson version came to life in 2009.
Now as to the merits of the argument, there’s no doubt that the NFL Redzone Channel concept is one of the most groundbreaking in the history of television. The ability to basically watch all NFL games at one time has been one of the factors in the league’s impressive popularity growth in the 21st century and has helped lead it to be the dominant sports or entertainment force in America. And its success has only been further buoyed by fantasy football and legalized sports betting. Can you imagine there was once a time when you would only see scores from other games flash periodically on your screen without having any idea what was going on in them?
We can see NFL RedZone’s popularity in the fact that pretty much every other sport has copied the concept. Probably the most admirable effort has been the Olympic’s new Gold Zone coverage featuring every gold medal that starred both Siciliano and Hanson to rave reviews.
So as far as broadcast innovations and ways to cover a sport? Top of the list. But linear channels? That’s where we might have to slow down on the hype.
There is no NFL RedZone Channel without ESPN, which just happened to launch in 1979 on the crazy idea that there would be an audience somewhere out there who would be interested in 24/7 sports. Similarly, there’s no Fox News or MSNBC without CNN first launching a cable news network. The cable and television industry have been built for decades on what those channels first did long ago. And their impact feeding into our new social media era by making 24/7 coverage a thing can’t be overstated.
In 2024 there is seemingly a channel for everyone and everything now that FAST channels are a thing. And maybe NFL RedZone was the genesis of that. You can find entire channels with classic Iron Chef episodes from Japan or the Bob Barker Price is Right era. Surely those would both make the top ten list of greatest channels ever too, right?
So while NFL Redzone may be a pioneer for its time and something historically significant and beloved, it’s hard to put it above the likes of ESPN that basically made our sports and television world what it is today.
