North American sports broadcaster One World Sports has acquired rights to the China Arena Football League, the country’s first professional American football league.
The deal covers the league’s inaugural season, entitled Super Series 2016. Beginning with the inaugural match live from Beijing, One World Sports will air the CAFL’s entire 18-game schedule in the United States.
Todd Myers, vice-president of programming, acquisitions and development at One World Sports, said: “The addition of football to One World Sports’ diverse programming further illustrates the network’s mission of providing varied sports from around the world, including those that emanate from and are most popular in the US.”
Following approval from the Chinese government, the CAFL is set to kick off its inaugural season of professional American football in Beijing on the weekend of October 1-2, before continuing for five more consecutive weekends in Dalian, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The inaugural CAFL Championship weekend will be held on November 5-6 at Shanghai Oriental Stadium.