During the Olympics many cruise-ship passengers were angry about which games they could watch and which ones were not shown.
The thing is: Cruise lines make deals and pay for every video feed they get.
When it comes to most sports, ships that sail from U.S. ports often have international feeds. So for something like the Olympics, the cruise line may not be offering the NBC/Peacock feed that focuses more on the American athletes.
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Which sporting events are shown on a ship depend both on the cruise line and the ship. Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships with sports bars, which includes most but not all of the ships in their fleets, have more rights to sporting events than ships that don't.
In some cases, a cruise line may not have access to a popular sporting event because it's not airing on the channel that usually carries that sport. And major events like the Super Bowl are very likely to air without commercials — which are quite popular among viewers — because the ship is getting that programming from an international feed.
Many times both Royal Caribbean and Carnival show a selection of games, not every game. That can frustrate fans of particular teams, and it's often challenging to see what games will be airing on a ship.
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald recently shared some news about which games his cruise line will be airing during the National Football League and college football season.
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Carnival will have a lot of NFL football
Heald shared Carnival's plans for the upcoming NFL season on his Facebook page.
"Right, let’s talk about football. Not the one I watch but the one with running quarters and wide ends who wears Joan Collins-style shoulders like she did in the TV show 'Dysentery,'" he wrote, intentionally getting the name of the show "Dynasty" wrong.
"For all our NFL fans, we are very happy to announce that for the 2024-2025 NFL football season, we will show the games that are broadcast on the ESPN network have the NFL Syndication and Sunday Ticket package. This means we will have Monday Night and ummm, Thursday Night football."
That means Carnival should have nearly every NFL game, with the possible exception of the Christmas games, which are airing on Netflix.
"These games will be shown in sports bars, in the casino bars, pubs, and breweries (not in the cabins), and in other places around the vessel," Heald added. "Some games will be shown on the big screen but not all games as we also have a wonderful Dive In Movie schedule to follow.
"We will of course show the Super Bowl on the big screens on Lido and in the main theatre as we watch the Cleveland Brownpants win."
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Carnival has big college football plans
Carnival will also have a healthy selection of college football games.
"Now on to college football," he posted. "This season we have an agreement to show 12 games per week during the 14-week season that is more specific to the home ports in our US itineraries.
"Now I have sod all idea what that means as my knowledge of college sports is probably the same as many of you reading this and your knowledge of cricket. However, I am sure this is fabulous news for college football fans."
The reactions to Heald's comments were largely positive.
"That is really awesome to hear. Some folks can't live without their football. I love watching college football," wrote Donna Shipp Golonska.
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Many posters spoke to how much they enjoy watching games on board.
"I have watched my favorite team on the ships twice, and it was actually super fun. We spent the rest of the cruise saying hi to each other. We would see other people from the bar and they would ask where’s your friends? I would say I don’t even know those people, we’re just all Bills Mafia," wrote Michelle Sapanara.
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