San Francisco’s Jarryd Hayne In Line To Smash Australian Television Record
Jarryd Hayne will be playing his first game for the San Francisco 49ers next week, which will be aired by ESPN. The broadcasting giant has the exclusive rights to air the game, which will pin the San Francisco 49ers against the Minnesota Vikings. The game will be hosted at Levi Stadium and will be displayed on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, being shown live in Australia starting at 12.15pm AEST, which will be on Tuesday as a result of time zones.
ESPN’s previous record was set only a year ago in 2014 in the Super Bowl match between the Seattle Seahawks and Peyton Manning’s Denvor Broncos, which was hosted in New York and had a live Australian audience of 120,000.
ESPN does not hold the record for the most viewed NFL broadcast though, as that record was set in the Super Bowl match between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots during a free to air showing on Channel Seven. It had a record 354,000 viewers, with another 94,000 that watched the match through ESPN.
Jarryd Hayne is expected to increase the Australian view count because he originated from Australia and has been a big success in the USA. Outside of the USA, football doesn’t have a lot of attention and isn’t a universal sport. Those that want to be successful must compete in the American league with the ultimate goal of eventually getting to participate in the Super Bowl. Being drafted onto the San Francisco 49ers is a huge breakthrough for any Australian player, and many are looking forward to seeing what Jarrdy Hayne can do for the team.
Channel Seven is working on obtaining the rights to show all of the 49ers matches that will involve Jarryd Hayne. However, NFL executive Mark Waller has stated that it won’t be likely that the rights will be given to Channel Seven. His main point is that if Channel Seven were to obtain the rights to show one team’s games, it might create controversy with the other 31 teams.
“One of the things that’s important for us is that when we develop the game internationally, we work on behalf of all 32 owners,” Waller explained. “Part of our charter as NFL international is to represent all 32 teams equally. So the idea of having a specific broadcaster show all of one team’s games might not sit well with the other 21. We’ll definitely work with them to see if we can do more.”
The 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula isn’t surprised by the amount of attention Hayne has received, making a huge transition with the organization in just five short months.
“When I met Jarryd Hayne I was the defensive line coach for the 49ers,” Jim shared. “I met him in my office. The reason that I made him was that I had worked in the European League, with international and cross over athletes for quite a while with the NFL Europe League. We were introduced. We sat down and talked. He struck me as a bright guy. He struck me as a fearless guy.”
There’s a lot of hype surrounding Hayne, and ESPN is expecting a massive turnout. Be sure to get in on the action next Tuesday!