The 18-time Emmy-winning sports documentary franchise Hard Knocks returns with Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North this December. The new episodes from HBO and NFL Films will chronicle an entire NFL division for the first time ever. Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North premieres on Tuesday, December 3, at 9/8c on HBO and will stream on Max. New episodes will air weekly through the end of the NFL regular season and continue into the NFL playoffs in January 2025.
The season will feature coach John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens, coach Zac Taylor’s Cincinnati Bengals, coach Kevin Stefanski’s Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North marks the Mike Tomlin-coached Pittsburgh Steelers’s first time appearing on the franchise. Baltimore led the first training camp season in 2001, with Cincinnati appearing on the summer show in 2009 and 2013. Cleveland joined the Hard Knocks ranks in 2018.
This all-access series “will document the battle for the AFC North crown during the final six weeks of the NFL season, as well as a playoff run for the division-winner and any AFC North Wild Card teams,” per its logline. Players to be featured on Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North include quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields, as well as Derrick Henry, Ja’Marr Chase, Myles Garrett, TJ Watt, and an array of other AFC North star players.
“Last season the AFC North became the first division ever to have all four teams finish with a winning record, making it the perfect place to launch this new approach to Hard Knocks. We thank the Bengals, Browns, Ravens, and Steelers for the opportunity to showcase some of the greatest rivalries in football and present the intensity of a playoff chase from all four corners of this incredibly competitive division,” Keith Cossrow, Vice President and Head of Content, NFL Films, said in a statement.
“We are ecstatic to expand the Hard Knocks universe with our partners at NFL Films to the always thrilling AFC North division race. In 2024, Hard Knocks will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and the Chicago Bears. What a year it will be on HBO and Max for football fans everywhere,” Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, Co-Executive Vice Presidents, HBO Documentary & Family Programming, and Bentley Weiner, Vice President, HBO Sports Documentaries, shared.
As announced last month, Hard Knocks will cover the NFL’s offseason with Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants, which premieres on Tuesday, July 2, and Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears, debuting on Tuesday, August 6. With Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North, the franchise now covers every part of the NFL season — from the offseason and training camp to the regular season and the playoffs.
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