Austrian Sunday Night Football show nominated for award brings sport to burgeoning audience

Football is king in the United States, but Austrian network Puls 4 is proving that the sport’s popularity extends well beyond North American borders.

Puls 4 has been broadcasting NFL games for five years for the German-speaking audience. Hosted by Michael Eschlbock and Walter Reiterer, the Sunday Night Football show has been nominated for an Austria TV Romy in the category of information, culture and sports.

Eschlbock is president of the Austrian American Football Federation, one of 67 national federations on six continents that are members of the International Federation of American Football, and Reiterer is the press officer. USA Football is the United States’ delegate to IFAF.

Eschlbock said it is the show’s mission to create awareness for football in Austria by explaining the rules, describing the action and delivering insight on the play – juggling their commentary to fit viewers that represent a wide variety of experience with the sport.

The show also discusses social subjects tied to the NFL such as breast cancer awareness and A Salute to Service.

“We really feel honored to be nominated,” said Eschlbock, who played football for the Austrian National Team. “This is a big step toward our goal to make this great sport very popular in Europe.”

The public can vote for Romy awards here.

Watch two clips from the show:

Clip 1

Clip 2

Thank you to USA Football.

Link to original USA Football article.

Joe writes for USA Football.