Scott Hanson drops ‘commercial-free’ from NFL RedZone catchphrase after controversy

For 16 years, fans watching NFL RedZone have enjoyed the promise of seven hours of commercial-free football, but that era appears to be over.

At the top of the RedZone broadcast on Sunday, show host Scott Hanson amended his catchphrase, declaring there would be “seven hours of RedZone football,” conspicuously dropping “commercial-free” from the slogan.

Last week, RedZone debuted new advertisements for their premium NFL viewing experience, airing them side-by-side with the broadcast, despite Hanson saying “commercial-free” at the beginning of the show.

On Friday, Hanson apologized to fans for deceiving them.

“I just wanted to take a quick second and apologize for using the ‘commercial-free’ catchphrase at the top of last show,” Hanson said in a video posted to X. “I was conflicted about it beforehand. I had a tough decision to make, and I made the wrong decision, and I’m sorry. … Being a great host means being accurate, being truthful, and having integrity, and so I hope you consider accepting this apology.”

Hanson ditched that slogan on Sunday as fans watched on in horror of potentially losing commercial-free football, although no ads had run through the show’s first hour.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk speculated that the use of the catchphrase and then experimenting with ads could create civil lawsuit liability against the program.

Hanson has been hosting RedZone since its inception, but that spotlight got a bit brighter over the past seven days than it had been prior.

Fans were up in arms over the potential of losing commercial-free football, with some heading over to X to express their displeasure.

“It’s official, redzone has sold out,” X user @loganstephens24 posted on the social media platform. “The commercial-free era is over. What a shame.”