AFL on NBC


 * This page is about the Arena Football League's AFL on NBC program that started in 2003. For NBC's coverage of the American Football League in the 1960s, see NFL on NBC.

The AFL on NBC is a TV program from NBC Sports that showed Arena Football League games from the 2003 season through 2006.

Studio commentary
The pre-game, halftime, and post-game studio show was anchored by Al Trautwig and analyst Glenn Parker since its inception. 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
Game commentary was provided by two major teams, with the lead consisting of play-by-play announcer Tom Hammond and analyst Pat Haden, with sideline reporter Lewis Johnson; this team was also NBC's lead team for its Notre Dame football coverage at the time. The other included Bob Papa (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst) and Marty Snider (sideline reporter). NBC's NASCAR announcers Bill Weber and Allen Bestwick also called games, as did Alabama Crimson Tide football voice Eli Gold. Other broadcasters included color commentators Mike Pawlawski and Charles Davis, and sideline reporter Steve Wrigley.

Music
The program was advertised with TV commercials with John Elway and with the song "Rumble" by Bon Jovi, the band fronted by Philadelphia Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi. The text of the song goes:
 * Come on feel the thunder.
 * There's a rumble in the house!

The song was published by the Universal Music Group in a Bon Jovi CD called There's A Rumble In The House!

Criticism
NBC's coverage received sharp criticism from some long time AFL fans and owners like Jon Bon Jovi. The complaints were mostly because NBC had severely cut back from their initial promotion of the AFL in 2003 and 2004, to barely promoting it at all in 2005 and 2006. NBC also tended to only broadcast select teams - the Philadelphia Soul, Chicago Rush, Colorado Crush, and the Dallas Desperados, while smaller market teams such as the Austin Wranglers, San Jose Sabercats, Grand Rapids Rampage and the now-relocated Buffalo Destroyers were left in the dark.

2006 season
In 2006, due to the XX Winter Olympic Games, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Daytona 500, NBC scaled back from weekly coverage to scattered coverage during the regular season, but an extensive playoff schedule ending with the 20th ArenaBowl. For that season, some games were moved to OLN, now known as Versus.

Ratings
The 2006 ArenaBowl on NBC earned the network 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. In sharp comparison to the 2006 season, the first season of The AFL on NBC earned 1.1%.

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, thus effectively ending The AFL on NBC program. AFL commissioner David Baker said "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 said "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 said, "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 superior to NBC's. In December 2006, a deal was struck with ABC/ESPN to broadcast AFL regular season and playoff games. ESPN also assumed partial ownership of the league itself.