RTL receives shitstorm from German NFL fans: “Bottomless impudence”

An NFL game, a dramatic final phase and an abrupt termination: RTL is heavily criticized by fans after its football broadcast on Sunday.

London – This Sunday (October 6th) there was great anticipation among German football fans: the first of the traditional NFL London Games was taking place in London. The game between the previously unbeaten Minnesota Vikings and the New York Jets with star quarterback Aaron Rodgers promised an interesting and exciting party in terms of sport.

Fuss about an exciting final phase in the NFL game Vikings against Jets on RTL

The Vikings started strong, but Rodgers and the Jets kept fighting back and kept the game open. There were signs of a dramatic final phase in which the Jets were able to win the game with a touchdown drive with 17:23 left and three minutes left in the game.

But then Rodgers made a crucial mistake: He tried to pass toward the end zone with 50 seconds left, but Vikings cornerback Stephan Gilmore was able to intercept the ball. This interception secured Minnesota the victory. But it was precisely these dramatic moments that remained hidden from many German NFL fans and caused a lot of anger afterwards.

RTL receives shitstorm after program change: “That’s ridiculous”

The reason: Broadcaster RTL, which holds the NFL rights in Germany together with DAZN, only showed the game-deciding moments on its paid streaming platform RTL+. The main program, where the game was previously shown live in its entirety, switched to the daily news program “RTL Aktuell” in the middle of the exciting final phase at 6:45 p.m.

This decision was met with incomprehension by many NFL fans. “That’s ridiculous, RTL. Please give the rights back to the NFL.”, “If you don’t care enough about the NFL that you’re canceling the game broadcast, why did you buy the rights?”, or “Just embarrassing!” RTL doesn’t know what Live -Sport is. Absolutely underground,” were some of the comments X. The term “RTL” even trended on the platform due to the many negative comments.

German football fans criticize RTL sharply –

Some viewers even threatened the station not to tune in in the future. “That was the last time I watched the NFL on RTL.” That’s a complete impudence and that’s how you lose viewers!”, or “What you did in the last few minutes was a slap in the face to football fans in Germany!”, said some angry fans.

So far, the station has not responded to the shitstorm. From RTL’s perspective, however, the decision was understandable. “RTL Aktuell” is one of the formats with the widest reach and regularly achieves good ratings. It remains to be seen whether RTL will do the same next Sunday (October 13th), when the next London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears takes place… (LuHa)