Turner inks coverage deal with new American football league, the Alliance
Details
Michelle Clancy
| 01 February 2019

Turner Sports and the brand-new Alliance of American Football today announced a multi-year, cross-platform partnership that will include live event coverage.

The deal includes the TNT cable network, and B/R Live, which is Turner Sports’ premium sports streaming service.

Founded by TV and film producer Charlie Ebersol and Hall of Famer Bill Polian, the Alliance is a new league that features eight teams with 52-player rosters playing a 10-week regular season schedule beginning 9 February on CBS. That will be followed by two playoff rounds and will culminate with the championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on 27 April.

The eight teams are: Orlando Apollos; Atlanta Legends; Memphis Express; Salt Lake Stallions; Arizona Hotshots; Birmingham Iron; and the San Antonio Commanders.

TNT will exclusively televise one Alliance regular season game and one playoff game each season throughout the length of the agreement, with additional regular season games available weekly via B/R Live.

TNT will televise the Salt Lake Stallions vs Birmingham Iron on Saturday, 16 Feb, with the game time moving to 2pm ET – leading into NBA All-Star Saturday Night – and will conclude with one Alliance playoff matchup in April.

B/R Live will launch the inaugural season of The Alliance with a special programme available Saturday, 9 Feb, introducing fans to the league, including some of the top moments from the preseason. B/R Live’s game coverage will begin Saturday, 23 Feb, with the Arizona Hotshots vs Salt Lake at 3pm ET.

In addition to live game coverage, all Alliance games distributed through B/R Live will be available on demand, with highlight rights extending across B/R platforms.

“We’re looking forward to this exciting partnership with The Alliance – including working closely with its leadership team of Charlie Ebersol, Bill Polian, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu – and share the enthusiasm and forward-thinking vision being applied to this newly-formed league,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports . “This is a true partnership and The Alliance will have our full support in the distribution of its live game coverage and content across the Turner Sports portfolio.”