Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks Host Green Bay Packers on Thursday, September 4. Coverage of NFL Kickoff 2014 Begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Denver Broncos Take on Indianapolis Colts in Season Debut of Sunday Night Football on September 7. Coverage Begins with Football Night In America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC
NBC Sports Live Extra to Live Stream All Sunday Night Football Games
Debut of Carrie Underwood’s 2014 Edition of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” Airs September 7
NFL Turning Point Season Premiere on Wednesday, September 10 at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio Airs Weekdays at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
NBCSN Sunday Sports Report Airs Sunday Nights at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Stamford, Conn. – August 28, 2014 – In a season that will see NBC broadcast Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, February 1, 2015, NBC Sports Group surrounds the 2014 NFL season with robust multi-platform coverage across its unprecedented portfolio of assets. NFL coverage will include live game presentation on NBC with Sunday Night Football, the No. 1 show on primetime TV; pre-game coverage on NBC with Football Night in America, the most watched studio show in sports; live streaming of Sunday Night Football for desktops and tablets on NBC Sports Live Extra; daily studio coverage on NBCSN with Pro Football Talk; weekly programming on NBCSN with Emmy Award-nominated NFL Turning Point and NBCSN Sunday Sports Report; daily radio coverage on 439 NBC Sports Radio affiliates across the United States; local team coverage on 11 NBC Sports Regional Networks; comprehensive fantasy football coverage on NBCSN with Fantasy Football Live, and online through Rotoworld.com; and additional digital and social media content.
NBC bookends the 2014 NFL season with NFL Kickoff 2014 on Thursday, Sept. 4 and Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015. In all, NBC will broadcast 22 games, including a Thanksgiving night game on Nov. 27, a Wild Card Playoff game on the weekend of Jan. 3-4, and a Divisional Playoff game on the Jan. 10-11 weekend.
NFL KICKOFF 2014 AND SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
The NFL opens the regular season on Thursday, Sept. 4, with NFL Kickoff 2014 on NBC. Russell Wilson and the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Century Link Field, in Seattle, Wash. A pre-game concert will feature performances by Grammy Award-winning singer, song-writer, producer, and The Voice judge, Pharrell Williams, as well as Seattle-natives and Grammy Award-winning band Soundgarden from a specially constructed stage outside of Century Link Field. Select portions of the concert will air on NBC. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday Night Football, the No. 1 primetime show on television, kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 7, when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos host Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts from Sports Authority Field at Mile High, in Denver, Colo. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
Calling both games are seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 29th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 15-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who has won the Emmy for Outstanding Event Analyst in each of his five seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and two-time Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.
NBC’s coverage of NFL Kickoff 2014 and Sunday Night Football is led by Emmy Award-winning producer Fred Gaudelli and Emmy Award-winning director Drew Esocoff. Sunday Night Football has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series for a record six consecutive years.
For the second year in a row, country music superstar Carrie Underwood will perform Waiting All Day for Sunday Night, the opening theme for Sunday Night Football. The 2014 edition will debut on Sunday, Sept. 7, prior to NBC’s first SNF broadcast of the 2014 NFL season. The opening theme has been part of the weekly telecast for all nine seasons of Sunday Night Football.
FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA
Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports, is hosted by 26-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas, who will report from Century Link Field, on Thursday, and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, on Sunday. Costas will be joined on site by Cris Collinsworth, two-time Super Bowl winner Hines Ward, and new NBC Sports on-air personality Josh Elliott.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Century Link Field on Thursday night, and from NBC Sports Group’s Studio on Sunday night. Patrick will be joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN and NBCSports.com, and Peter King of Sports Illustrated.
Beginning on Sept. 7, and continuing throughout the regular season, Kathryn Tappen, Alex Flanagan and Carolyn Manno will alternate reporting from the site of one of the high-profile afternoon games.
In addition to the weekly Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America broadcasts, NBC Sports Group’s NFL coverage also includes digital content and social media extensions that are available online, as well as NFL-related shoulder programming available on NBCSN.
NBC SPORTS GROUP NFL WEEK 1 COVERAGE | |||
DATE | TIME | COVERAGE | NETWORK |
Tues. Sept. 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Pro Football Talk | NBCSN |
6:30 p.m. | Fantasy Football Live | NBCSN | |
Wed. Sept. 3 | 5:30 p.m. | Pro Football Talk | NBCSN |
6:30 p.m. | Fantasy Football Live | NBCSN | |
Thurs. Sept. 4 | 5:30 p.m. | Pro Football Talk | NBCSN |
7:30 p.m. | NFL Kickoff 2014 NBC | ||
8:30 p.m. | Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks NBC | ||
Fri. Sept. 5 | 5:30 p.m. | Pro Football Talk | NBCSN |
Sun. Sept. 7 | 7 p.m. | Football Night in America | NBC |
8:30 p.m. | SNF: Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos NBC |
NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA
For the seventh consecutive season, the entire Sunday Night Football schedule will be streamed live online. NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product, will stream all SNF games to desktops and tablets. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcast of SNF.
For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, and on select tablet devices within Google Play.
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL DIGITAL COVERAGE
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ALL-ACCESS: For the fifth straight season, and with a new look and feel, NBCSports.com is providing a destination for fans dedicated to behind-the-scenes and social media driven content of Sunday Night Football. SNF All-Access includes exclusive photos and videos of the Sunday Night Football production team, look-ins on SNF production meetings, Michele Tafoya “Ten With Tafoya” interviews with key NFL players, and conversations with SNF and FNIA talent. In addition to the behind-the-scenes photos & videos, SNF All-Access houses all of the social media conversation surrounding SNF all week long. Fans can access tweets from across the league, Instagram photos and which players and topics are trending all within one experience.
Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SOCIAL MEDIA:
- SNF ON FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/SNFonNBC – At nearly 2.5 million LIKES strong, the Sunday Night Football Facebook page provides stories, photos and videos exclusively behind-the-scenes at SNF every week. The page aggregates all SNF-related content found within the NBC Sports digital network, including NBCSports.com, SNF All Access, ProFootballTalk.com, and Rotoworld.com as well as hosts fan focused contests and sweepstakes throughout the season
- SNF ON TWITTER: twitter.com/SNFonNBC – Using tweets, photos, Vines and videos, @SNFonNBC provides unique content with SNF talent, production crew and NFL players. Additionally, Michele Tafoya will provide real-time tweets from the sideline to provide followers with updates all game long.
- SNF ON INSTAGRAM: Going into its fourth season, Sunday Night Football gives the SNF fan a look at photos through the filters of Instagram. Fans get a look inside the production trucks, the locker rooms, on the field and around each SNF city. Fans will get an exclusive look through Instagram of what life is like on the sideline, as our social media producer captures the best photos of Sunday night and posts in real time.
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BUS
NBC Sports Group’s Sunday Night Football bus returns this season to travel the country visiting the host cities of all 17 Sunday Night Football games, NFL Kickoff 2014 in Seattle, and NBC’s Wild Card and Divisional Playoff games. The SNF bus will also be on-site all week leading up to the crowning of the Super Bowl XLIX champion in Arizona on Sunday, February 1, 2015.
The bus will arrive in each city two to three days prior to the game, making stops at local landmarks and events before heading to the game site on Sunday. In each city fans will have the opportunity to interact with America’s most-watched primetime television show via exclusive memorabilia, and an interactive 55 inch touch screen housing social media elements, photos and video.
As the Sunday Night Football bus makes its way from NFL Kickoff to the Super Bowl, it will also be traveling with a replica Vince Lombardi Trophy that will be available for fan photos. From the life-size NFL players and Carrie Underwood on the outside, to the SNF Player of the Game signed ball and Vince Lombardi Trophy on the inside, fans will have numerous opportunities to interact and share memories from the bus.
NBCSPORTS.COM/FOLLOWSNF
Fans can digitally follow the Sunday Night Football bus at NBCSports.com/FollowSNF. The site will include an interactive map of where the bus has been, and where it’s traveling next, allowing fans to take a virtual #SNFRoadTrip, beginning at NFL Kickoff on Sept. 4, all the way to the ultimate Sunday night of them all, Super Bowl XLIX #SB49. In addition, fans can also participate in a tweet contest to show their team pride and see who’s leading each week.
A dedicated producer will be collecting photos and creating videos of the bus’ travels and the cast of characters it encounters along the way. Life on the road with the Sunday Night Football bus will be featured on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as aggregated on NBCSports.com/FollowSNF using #SNFRoadTrip.
“THE SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL”
For the third consecutive season NBC Sports will present “The Sunday Night Football,” a custom made football from Wilson, which will travel with the SNF crew all season long. Fans of SNF on Facebook and Twitter will be able to keep up with “The Sunday Night Football” on the SNF Facebook page, follow its path through each city and recommend where it should visit while in town. In addition, fans can visit NBCSports.com/FollowSNF.
At the end of each SNF game, “The Sunday Night Football” will be signed by the player of the game. Photos, video and stories around “The Sunday Night Football” and its travels will live on Facebook, Twitter, and SNF All-Access.
To help fans continue the conversation about the Sunday Night Football bus and “The Sunday Night Football,” NBCSports.com/FollowSNF will aggregate tweets and Instagram posts utilizing #SNF. The feed will include NBC Sports NFL experts, players, teams, and others talking about SNF and their interactions with the bus and the ball.
NFL TURNING POINT SEASON PREMIERE WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10, 10 P.M. ET ON NBCSN
The fourth season of Emmy-nominated NFL Turning Point, NBCSN’s weekly show co-produced by NFL Films, will debut Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 10 p.m. ET and will be hosted by Football Night in America’s Dan Patrick. The hour-long program will air throughout the NFL season and will focus on the crucial “turning point” moment in several games each week by utilizing NFL Films’ unmatched cinematography, and sideline and on-field audio.
PRO FOOTBALL TALK ON NBCSN WEEKNIGHTS, 5:30 P.M. ET
Pro Football Talk, NBCSN’s daily NFL studio show co-hosted by Mike Florio and Paul Burmeister, airs at 5:30 p.m. ET every Monday through Friday. In addition to diving deep on the most topical NFL stories of the day, Pro Football Talk provides all-encompassing coverage of the NFL, including the most current news and analysis, engaging features, thought-provoking debates, and interviews with a wide variety of NFL newsmakers.
The show regularly features a roster of NBC Sports football commentators who share a combined eight Super Bowl titles and 169 seasons of NFL experience, including Cris Collinsworth, Tony Dungy, Hines Ward, , Doug Flutie, Jason Taylor, Takeo Spikes, Brian Westbrook, Ross Tucker, Jon Ritchie and longtime NFL coach Kevin Gilbride. In addition, Mike Ryan, who boasts 26 NFL seasons of athletic training experience, appears on select telecasts to provide perspective on injuries and sports medicine.
FANTASY FOOTBALL LIVE ON NBCSN TUESDAY - THURSDAY NIGHTS, 6:30 P.M. ET
Building off of Yahoo! Sports’ popular Sunday live streaming show of the same name, Fantasy Football Live is a live and on-demand, multi-platform, fantasy football program that airs Tuesday through Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Fantasy Football Live on NBCSN combines the best fantasy football expertise from Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports, including unique metrics from Yahoo! Sports’ leading fantasy football platform, and full integration with NBC Sports’ premier fantasy sports information site, Rotoworld.com.
Hosted by NBC Sports’ Dave Briggs, Fantasy Football Live features a roster of Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports and Rotoworld fantasy analysts, including Rotoworld’s Kay Adams, as well as Yahoo Sports’ Brad Evans, Brandon Funston and Andy Behrens.
NBCSN SUNDAY SPORTS REPORT – SUNDAY NIGHTS, 11:30 P.M. ET
NBCSN Sunday Sports Report, a new, weekly, one-hour program that showcases the news and highlights of the sports properties that are carried by NBC Sports Group, airs every Sunday night on NBCSN.
Hosted by Liam McHugh, NBCSN Sunday Sports Report goes in-depth into the high-profile sports properties that primarily air on NBC and NBCSN, including the Olympics, NFL, NASCAR, NHL, Premier League, golf, Triple Crown horse racing, Notre Dame Football, Formula One, IndyCar and more.
NBCSN Sunday Sports Report originates from Studio 3 at NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.
During the NFL season, Rodney Harrison and Mike Florio will join McHugh in studio. In addition, Cris Collinsworth, Hines Ward, Josh Elliott and Michele Tafoya will report from the site of each Sunday Night Football game.
NBC SPORTS RADIO
NBC Sports Radio will surround the 2014 NFL season with daily coverage on 439 radio affiliates, highlighted by McNabb and Malone; an all-sports show that leverages the unique perspective of two former NFL quarterbacks, and Safety Blitz with Rodney Harrison; featuring three-time All Pro and two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison.
To listen to a live stream of NBC Sports Radio, or find your local affiliate, visit www.NBCSportsRadio.com
NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS
NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NFL markets such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston and San Francisco, will surround the 2014 NFL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the teams that matter most in more than 43 million U.S. households.
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
For the second consecutive season, Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist, Carrie Underwood, will perform “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” the opening theme for primetime television’s No. 1 program, Sunday Night Football on NBC. Country music superstar Underwood, the season-four winner of American Idol in 2005, made her Sunday Night Football debut to open the 2013 NFL season. The opening theme will continue each week kicking off Sunday Night Football every Sunday night throughout the NFL season on NBC.
Eleven NFL players, who have accounted for 44 Pro Bowl selections, five Super Bowl rings, three Super Bowl MVP trophies, and eight first-round draft picks (five in the top 10) will participate in the open with Underwood. Players include New Orleans Saints TE Jimmy Graham, San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly, New York Giants QB Eli Manning, Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning, Chicago Bears WR Brandon Marshall, Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy, San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers, Denver Broncos DE DeMarcus Ware, and Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson.
Underwood emerged from the promise of her 2005 American Idol win to become a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, and film, where the six-time Grammy Award winner has amassed more than 95 major honors, sold more than 64 million records worldwide, and recorded 18 No. 1 singles, nine of which she co-wrote. Underwood was recognized as Pollstar’s Top Female Country Touring Artist for each of her headlining tours in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Her four albums, Some Hearts, Carnival Ride, Play On, and Blown Away – each certified multi-Platinum or Platinum – tallied 38 weeks at No 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with songs that have now been streamed more than 800 million times worldwide.
A proud member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2008, Underwood last year became the musical voice of primetime television’s No 1 program, Sunday Night Football, and starred as Maria von Trapp in the three-hour, holiday blockbuster and Emmy-winning, The Sound of Music Live!, which had a total reach of 44 million viewers.
SNF: NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION FOR 3 YEARS RUNNING
NBC’s Sunday Night Football finished the 2013-14 television season as the No. 1 show in primetime in household rating, viewership and the coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May).
This marks the third consecutive television season — and the only three times on record — that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season.
For the 2013-2014 primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranks as the highest-rated (12.8), most-watched show (21.7 million, viewers 2+), and the No. 1 broadcast program across the key demographics of Adults 18-49, 18-34, 25-54 as well as Men 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54 and Women 18-34 and 18-49.
In addition, 12 SNF games averaged at least 20 million viewers, tying NBC’s Sochi Winter Olympics for most primetime telecasts with 20 million viewers (not including pre-/post-shows).
The critically acclaimed Football Night in America, which precedes Sunday Night Football, each week at 7 p.m. ET, averaged 7.9 million viewers in 2013, making it the most watched studio show in sports.
Sunday Night Football has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series in each of the last six years.
2014 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC will broadcast 19 primetime NFL games during the 2014 regular season, highlighted by: Russell Wilson and the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks hosting Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, Sept. 4; Peyton Manning and the AFC Champion Broncos host Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in the opening Sunday Night Football game on Sept. 7; and NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game, featuring the heated NFC West rivalry between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers.
2014 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE | ||
DATE | WEEK | MATCHUP |
Thurs. Sept. 4 | NFL Kickoff | Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks |
Sun. Sept. 7 | Week 1 | Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos |
Sun. Sept. 14 | Week 2 | Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers |
Sun. Sept. 21 | Week 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers |
Sun. Sept. 28 | Week 4 | New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys |
*Sun. Oct. 5 | Week 5 | Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots |
*Sun. Oct. 12 | Week 6 | New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles |
*Sun. Oct. 19 | Week 7 | San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos |
*Sun. Oct. 26 | Week 8 | Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints |
*Sun. Nov. 2 | Week 9 | Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers |
*Sun. Nov. 9 | Week 10 | Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers |
*Sun. Nov. 16 | Week 11 | New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts |
*Sun. Nov. 23 | Week 12 | Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants |
**Thurs. Nov. 27 | Week 13 | Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers |
*Sun. Nov. 30 | Week 13 | Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs |
*Sun. Dec. 7 | Week 14 | New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers |
*Sun. Dec. 14 | Week 15 | Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles |
*Sun. Dec. 21 | Week 16 | Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals |
*Sun. Dec. 28 | Week 17 | TBA |
*Flex Week
** Thanksgiving Night Game
Follow “Sunday Night Football” on Twitter @SNFonNBC
Follow NBC SportsTalk on Twitter @NBCSportsTalk
Become a fan of “Sunday Night Football” on Facebook at: Facebook.com/SNFonNBC
Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/
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