Editing NFL Network (section)

=== NFL game telecasts ===
{{Main|NFL Network Exclusive Game Series}}

NFL Network introduced original game broadcasts in the [[2006 NFL season|2006 season]] via the ''Run to the Playoffs''—a late-season package of Thursday- and Saturday-night games, branded as ''[[Thursday Night Football]]'' and ''Saturday Night Football'' respectively. After most Saturday games were dropped from the package beginning in the 2008 season, all of the games were branded as ''Thursday Night Football'' regardless of night beginning in 2009. Starting with the [[2012 NFL season|2012 season]], ''Thursday Night Football'' expanded to include a weekly game from Weeks 2 through 15 (excluding the Kickoff Game and Thanksgiving Day, which is held by NBC), as well as one Saturday night game during Week 16. As a result, every NFL team now appears in at least one timeslot-exclusive nationally televised game per-season.

As with the games broadcast by ESPN's ''[[Monday Night Football]]'', the NFL Network telecasts are also aired on a designated broadcast television station in the primary [[media market|markets]] of the participating teams, although prior to the suspension of blackout rules in 2015 stations in the home team's market only carried it if the televised game [[NFL on television#Blackout policies|sold out all remaining available tickets 72 hours prior to the game's start time]].

When ''Thursday Night Football'' premiered, veteran television announcer [[Bryant Gumbel]] served as [[play-by-play]] announcer, with former [[NFL on Fox|Fox]] and current [[Football Night in America|NBC]] analyst [[Cris Collinsworth]] serving as [[color commentator]] for the broadcasts.<ref>[http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/9398370 Bryant Gumbel, Cris Collinsworth to announce NFL Network games] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430234917/http://www.nfl.com/NFL|date=April 30, 2006}} NFL Network.</ref> Collinsworth won the Sports [[Emmy Award|Emmy]] for best game analyst for his work on the NFL Network telecasts. [[Dick Vermeil]] replaced Collinsworth for two games in 2006; [[Marshall Faulk]] and [[Deion Sanders]] replaced Collinsworth when needed in 2007.

In the [[2014 NFL season]], the NFL established a sub-licensing agreement with [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] to increase the prominence of the ''Thursday Night Football'' package, under which a portion of the package would air in simulcast on broadcast television, and [[CBS Sports]] would produce all games. Specific games would still be exclusive to NFL Network to comply with carriage agreements guaranteeing a minimum number of exclusive NFL broadcasts per-season.<ref name="cbs-nflthursday">{{cite web |title=CBS to broadcast eight Thursday night football games in 2014 |url=http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205191513/http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014 |archive-date=February 5, 2014 |access-date=February 5, 2014 |work=CBS Sports}}</ref><ref name="usatoday-nflcbs">{{cite web |title=CBS-NFL marriage extended to Thursday nights in 2014 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/02/05/cbs-thursday-tv-games-nfl-network/5227869/ |access-date=February 5, 2014 |work=USA Today}}</ref>  In 2016, [[NBC Sports]] also gained a portion of the package under a similar arrangement.<ref name="deadline-tnf2016nbccbs">{{cite web |title=CBS & NBC To Share 'Thursday Night Football' With NFL Network; League Eyes "Tri-Cast" With Digital Partner |url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/thursday-night-football-cbs-nbc-share-nfl-network-1201694273/ |access-date=February 1, 2016 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=February 2016 }}</ref><ref name="wp-tnfnbccbs">{{cite news |title=NFL reaches deal with CBS, NBC to split 'Thursday Night Football' |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/02/01/nfl-reaches-deal-with-cbs-nbc-to-split-thursday-night-football/ |access-date=February 1, 2016}}</ref> [[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox Sports]] took over the package from 2018 to 2022.<ref name="espn-foxtnf">{{Cite news |title=Fox to broadcast Thursday Night Football for next five seasons |work=ESPN.com |url=http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22273473/fox-broadcast-thursday-night-football-next-five-seasons |access-date=January 31, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonesteel |first=Matt |date=January 31, 2018 |title='Thursday Night Football' will move to Fox next season |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/01/31/thursday-night-football-reportedly-will-move-to-fox-next-season/ |access-date=January 31, 2018 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> With [[Amazon Prime Video]] taking over exclusive rights to ''Thursday Night Football'' beginning in the 2022 season, NFL Network switched to a package consisting primarily of Sunday morning [[NFL International Series]] games, and late-season Saturday games.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 18, 2021 |title=NFL completes long-term media distribution agreements through 2033 season |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-completes-long-term-media-distribution-agreements-through-2033-season |access-date=October 23, 2021 |website=NFL}}</ref>

==== Preseason coverage ====
NFL Network televises all 65 [[National Football League preseason|preseason games]] each August. Some of the games air live on the network; however, a majority of these contests air on a [[broadcast delay|tape-delayed]] basis and use the local broadcast of one of the teams involved. Live preseason game broadcasts on NFL Network are blacked out in the home markets of both participating teams, where the game is broadcast on a local station; in those affected areas, an alternate feed of NFL Network is shown instead with a different preseason game, documentary programming, or a previously aired game.

Prior to 2014, NFL Network occasionally broadcast selected preseason games as special editions of ''Thursday Night Football'', such as the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame Game]] between the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] and the [[New Orleans Saints]] in 2007 (NBC had opted out to carry the proposed [[China Bowl (NFL)|China Bowl]] preseason game in Beijing, which was eventually cancelled).