Where to Watch the NFL Playoffs (and a Peek at the League's New China Ambassador)

Peyton Manning just wasn't cutting it: On December 27, the National Football League (NFL) announced that Manning would be replaced by Hong Kong singer and actor William Chan as the face of the NFL in China.

As the new ambassador, Chan will help promote the NFL's growth in China, as well as be a special guest at the 51st Super Bowl in Houston in February.

Chan is a bit of an unusual choice for a spokesperson: he's neither an athlete nor someone who has any sort of publicly professed love for the sport (though he does have some sweet tats and likes to post selfies at the gym). While he might be a closet football fan, you wouldn't know if from his Weibo account, which has failed to mention any particular reference to the NFL – prior to being named ambassador.

That doesn't mean that he lacks influence though, currently boasting 20.3 million followers. 

Born in Hong Kong in 1985, Chan has been in the pop star spotlight since winning a singing competition in 2003 which bagged him a spot in the Cantopop boy band Sun Boy’z. More recently he's turned to acting in mainland films and television series.

The move seems to an effort to see some crossover appeal to female fans, which is also part of the NFL's formula for success in the US, a move that some local fans say is already paying dividends.

"The day I posted the news, a lot of my female friends said they would try to watch a game [for the first time]" said Michael Xu, a local pro football fan who also plays in China's semi-professional football league.

Xu said more female fans would help the sport get the social media lift it needs to blossom in China. "One important factor is to get more women to watch the games. Guys share things on social media sometimes, but females tend to share a lot," Xu said.

But now onto some NFL-watching nitty-gritty: This year's NFL playoffs kick off this weekend, and there are plenty of ways to watch, both in public and private.

Sure to show at least some of the early playoff action are die-hards like Paddy O'Shea's, Caravan, and Home Plate BBQ; and by the time the Super Bowl rolls around on early February, you can be assured more than a dozen spots around town will be throwing NFL parties: ask around at places like Slow Boat's new Sanlitun location, Element Fresh (Taikoo Li location), The Local, The Irish Volunteer and Centro.

For those who just can't face spending early mornings in bars with rowdy fans, you can watch for free from the comfort of your own air-filtered living room via any number of online channels that will stream the games for free – our favorite is LeSports.com, but you can see a full list of other broadcasters at the NFL China site here.

Here's the schedule of the playoffs (Beijing local time):

Sunday, Jan 8
5.35am: Oakland Raiders vs Houston Texans
9.15am: Detroit Lions vs Seattle Seahawks

Monday, Jan 9
2.05am: Miami Dolphins vs Pittsburgh Steelers
5.40am: New York Giants vs Green Bay Packers

Sunday, Jan 15
5.35am: Highest Remaining NFC Seed vs Atlanta Falcons
9.15am: Lowest Remaining AFC Seed vs New England Patriots

Monday, Jan 16
2.05am: Highest Remaining AFC Seed vs Kansas City Chiefs
5.40am: Lowest Remaining NFC Seed vs Dallas Cowboys

Monday, Jan 23
4.05am: NFC Championship
7.40am: AFC Championship

Monday, February 6
7.30am: Super Bowl

More on Chan as spokesperson: NFL China Managing Director Richard Young explained, “as a fan of NFL, and a popular all-round star among the youth, with the popularity and ability, William Chan’s value of life, his persistence and dedication to work match the value of NFL.” Chan said, “it is my great honor to be the first Chinese ambassador of the NFL, and I hope through this cooperation you will see a different side of me.”

Since 2013, he shifted his career from music to acting, featuring in several Mainland China TV shows and films. Starring in Swords of Legends as big brother Ling Yue in 2014 gained him huge recognition in the Mainland and made it his most iconic role. He also won the Most Popular All-Around Artist and Most Anticipated Actor awards at the sixth Chinese TV Drama Awards. In the same year, he won the Best Young Actor award at 2014 China Image Film Festival for his performance in the movie Golden Brother. There was gossip like Chan used to date popular actress Angelababy in 2005, when both of them were in a Disney TV show. 

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
Instagram: @flyingfigure

Photos courtesy of NFL China, sina