Overseas troops won't be able to watch the NFL playoffs - and more - because of the government shutdown

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

US soldiers from the 101st Airborne cheer as the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots play Super Bowl XXXVI February 3, 2002 while stationed at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan

• The federal government is currently in a partial shutdown.
• Due to the shutdown, the Department of Defense's Armed Forces Network is not operational.
• This means military personnel deployed overseas are at risk of not being able to see the NFL playoffs and other programming.

Deployed members of the US military rely on a few comforts while away from home - one of those being the ability to watch American sports on the Armed Forces Network (AFN).

However, for those troops hoping to catch the NFL playoffs on Sunday, there's a good chance they'll miss out.

Due to the government shutdown, AFN will not be operational to broadcast the NFC and AFC Championship games on Sunday - unless Congress can reach a deal before that time - since all nonessential services are scrapped during a shutdown. AFN is operated by the Department of Defense.

"Under a government shutdown, sports broadcasts are not considered an essential activity. We are looking for creative solutions to continue to provide our troops with some of the comforts of home," Dana White, a DoD spokesperson, told CNN. "We hope Congress will come to a resolution, support our troops and pass a budget."

Additionally, while those members of the military overseas will still be on duty during the shutdown, they will not be getting paychecks.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders seized on the AFN blackout, tweeting a picture of a television with an AFN logo and the phrase, "Due to the government shutdown, AFN services are not available."

"I received this from a young infantryman serving in Afghanistan this morning. Sad that the men and women who have sacrificed so much are deprived of even the most basic connection to home bc Democrats are playing political games," Sanders tweeted.

Here's the message that went out from the AFN Twitter account Saturday: