Steelers, AFC North to Star on In-Season Version of HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the AFC North will be featured on the in-season version of Hard Knocks, the NFL and HBO announced on Monday.

For the first time, the in-season version of the show will be focusing on an entire division, not just one team and the league and HBO decided to focus on the late-season run of what is expected to be an ultra-competitive AFC North this season.

Hard Knocks has been airing on HBO and Max since 2001, traditionally covering a team’s journey through training camp using all-access, behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive reality TV-style interviews. Beginning with the 2021 season, an in-season version of the show has also been produced. 

The Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins were the in-season Hard Knocks teams over the last three seasons. This year also saw an offseason version of the show for the first time, featuring the New York Giants. The Chicago Bears will appear in the training camp version this fall. This is the first time the Steelers have participated in the show.

“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,'” NFL Films vice president Keith Cossrow said in a press release. “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.”

Episodes of the show will air on HBO on Tuesdays, starting on Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. and continuing through the NFL postseason. It will also be available on streaming through Max.

“We are ecstatic to expand the ‘Hard Knocks’ universe with our partners at NFL Films to the always thrilling AFC North division race,” said HBO vice presidents Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Bentley Weiner. “What a year it will be on HBO and Max for football fans everywhere.”

Before the 2024 season, the NFL allowed teams that had a playoff appearance over the last two seasons to refuse to participate in Hard Knocks, which is a major reason the Steelers never have done so. Those rules were amended this spring so that the league can force each team to participate once every eight seasons. The rules were changed after some contentious battles over the last few years, with few teams wanting to volunteer to take part in the show.