The National Football League's San Francisco 49ers today announced an agreement with UK-based digital content publisher Gridiron to produce and distribute bespoke weekly content across podcast and digital channels throughout the UK.
As part of the partnership, Gridiron will be releasing a podcast show called 'Tales From The Bay' that will explore 49ers storylines across the season. Gridiron will also publish a dedicated 49ers article in their monthly magazine alongside weekly articles on their website.
'Tales From The Bay' co-hosts Larry Krueger and Bay Area native Ryan Smith will be joined each week by different 49ers personalities including team reporter Lindsey Pallares as well as current and former players. A long-time Bay Area media personality who has covered the 49ers for years, Krueger is Gridiron's lead team correspondent on the ground in Santa Clara covering 49ers games and daily practices throughout the week, all season long.
"Finding a digital content partner within the NFL space was a key focus for us as we extend our reach into the UK," said Alex Chang, 49ers chief marketing officer. "By partnering with Gridiron we are able to consistently reach UK-based NFL fans with timely 49ers news and stories, while leveraging great content opportunities across social media too. We can't wait to get started."
The 49ers partnership with Gridiron is exclusive among all NFL teams and kicks off this week, with the first episode of the podcast going live before start of the season.
"We are excited and proud to partner with the Niners on this innovative partnership," said Oliver Connolly, managing editor of Gridiron. "The 49ers are one of the UK's legacy franchises, with a core fanbase dating back to the 80s. We look forward to bringing fans closer to the team than ever before."
Gridiron is also partnering with the 49ers to host the team's first official UK watch party on Sunday, September 11 for the 49ers regular season opener against the Chicago Bears. Gridiron's Connolly will be the pregame event emcee at BOX – City Centre in Leeds for approximately 400 members of the 49ers Faithful ahead of the 6 PM BST kick off from Chicago.
Last year the 49ers gained the United Kingdom as one of its territories in the league's new International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) program, allowing individual teams to build beyond their core areas in the United States.
Earlier in the week, the 49ers and talkSPORT announced an exclusive season-long partnership to broadcast 11 regular season 49ers games across the talkSPORT 2 radio network during the 2022 NFL season.
