NFL, Hudl Expand Partnership to Grow Football

In their ongoing efforts to improve high school football, the NFL and Hudl have expanded their partnership to include providing one NFL Game Pass subscription, free of charge, to every varsity high school football program using their services.

NFL Game Pass brings fans in the United States of America replays of every NFL game of the season as soon as they end, as well as live, gameday audio. A Game Pass subscription also includes access to archives of every NFL game from 2009 through 2019, previous seasons of the Game Pass exclusive show, NFL Game Pass Film Session, which highlights successful concepts, techniques and first-hand tips by players and coaches. NFL Game Pass can be accessed online and on any smartphone, tablet or connected TV device.

With a dominant market share of the American high school football market, a rate that accounts for more than 16,000 high school teams using Hudl's services, the partnership provides the opportunity for two of the most distinguished brands in football to grow the sport towards a brighter future.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with the NFL in making a better future for football at all levels. Football remains the heartbeat of our customer base," said Greg Nelson, Vice President of Competitive Sports at Hudl. "This is our way of saying thank you to the thousands of communities across the country that make Friday nights so special."

Additionally, the partnership will assist with extending the Way to Play initiative to the high school football level, which will help highlight proper playing technique to protect players from unnecessary risk and foster culture change across all levels of the sport.

The NFL Way to Play High School Award will honor one high school football player weekly for demonstrating exceptional in-game playing technique. The high school award recipient will be announced on NFL Network each Saturday morning, and the school of each honoree will receive a $1,500 equipment grant.

"The reach Hudl has in the youth and high school football space is substantial, making this expanded partnership something that will revolutionize the way youth and high school coaches analyze the game," said Roman Oben, Vice President of Youth and High School Football Strategy. "We're excited to further advance this partnership to also include NFL Way to Play which rewards high school student-athletes for their playing technique. The goal is the more high school coaches and players who utilize Hudl's services to evaluate their games, the more likely they are to emphasize player protection and proper playing techniques in the game."

Hudl and the NFL's partnership will allow the NFL to continue engaging with coaches at the high school level. The sharing of aggregate play and game-level data will provide new insights into the high school football landscape from which the NFL can closely monitor trends, observe player and team-level behaviors and anticipate future changes in style of play and tendencies.