NFL on TNT The NFL on TNT was the weekly United States television broadcast by Turner Network Television ( TNT ) of Sunday evening National Football League ( NFL ) games . History . Sunday night games ( 1990 – 1997 ) . TNT televised NFL games from 1990 through the 1997 season . They broadcast Sunday night NFL games during the first half of the season , with ESPN taking over for the second half . TNT got a couple of Thursday night games to show , as ESPN did in the second half ( TNT ' s Thursday night games were aired in place of Sunday night games that would have otherwise conflicted with the World Series ) . As has always been the case for cable broadcasts , TNT distributed their feed to local television stations in the market of the teams playing . ESPN anchor Chris Berman referred to TNT ' s football programming by its original " Nitro " brand , even after TNT abandoned that moniker . ( This is not to be confused with the professional wrestling show called " WCW Monday Nitro " . ) It does not appear that TNT ' s coverage ever used the title " Sunday Night Football " , and indeed ESPN filed for a trademark on that title in 1996 ( the trademark was later assigned to the NFL , allowing for its eventual use by NBC ) . The last game was aired on October 26 , 1997 . Fittingly , one of the teams involved was the Atlanta Falcons , based in the home city of Turner Broadcasting - Atlanta , Georgia ( they played at their division rivals , the Carolina Panthers , located up Interstate 85 in Charlotte , North Carolina ) . Unlike the Braves , Hawks and Thrashers , however , Turner never owned the Falcons at any point in time ( due to NFL ownership rules ) . Studio shows . The network had a one - hour studio pregame show , titled " The Stadium Show " , from 1990 to 1994 . In 1995 , this was reduced to a half - hour and retitled " Pro Football Tonight " , running though 1997 . Ernie Johnson was one of the studio hosts during this time , and Mark May ( now of ESPN ) was one of the studio analysts before moving to the booth for the final season . Fantasy Football legacy . The Sunday night TNT halftime show was the first major network NFL broadcast to utilize a player statistics " crawl " at the bottom of the screen . With Fantasy Football in its early stages of popularity , and the internet not being readily available to the general public , this was the only way for most fans to get updated Sunday player stats without waiting until the 11 : 00 PM or midnight sports highlight shows on CNN and ESPN . However , in the second half of the NFL season when ESPN would broadcast Sunday night games , Fantasy Football fans would be disappointed since ESPN did not provide the same detailed crawl during their Halftime show . " Super Bowl Television " . In addition to the Sunday night games , TNT also presented an annual special , " Super Bowl Television " . The program , which aired on Friday and Saturday night , mixed a preview of that season ' s game with entertainment segments . Ernie Johnson hosted the show from the Super Bowl host city . The end of TNT ' s coverage . TNT lost their rights to the NFL following the 1997 season after ESPN chose to bid on the entire regular season package beginning in 1998 .