FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 5th, 2015

BACK TO FOOTBALL! STEELERS AND VIKINGS KICK OFF PRESEASON IN NFL/HALL OF FAME GAME THIS SUNDAY AT 8 PM ET ON NBC

NBC’s Sunday Night Football Team of Al Michaels & Cris Collinsworth Call Game Joined by Sideline Reporter Paul Burmeister in Canton, Ohio

Live Interviews with 2015 NFL Hall of Fame Class Throughout Telecast, Including Former Steelers RB Jerome Bettis and Former Vikings C Mick Tingelhoff

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 5, 2015 – NBC Sports kicks off the NFL’s 2015 preseason schedule with the NFL/Hall of Fame Game this Sunday, August 9, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, as two-time Super Bowl-winning QB Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers face 2014 All-Rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings.

Calling Steelers-Vikings from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, is seven-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 30th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who has won the Emmy for Outstanding Event Analyst in each of his six seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and Paul Burmeister, who reports from the sidelines. Burmeister is the co-host of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN alongside co-host and NBC Sports Group NFL insider Mike Florio, and two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison. Burmeister fills in for Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who is in Kazan, Russia, working on NBC’s coverage of the FINA World Swimming Championships.

Sunday night’s telecast will also feature live interviews with members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015, including RB Jerome Bettis, who spent the last 10 seasons of his 13-year NFL career with the Steelers, and C Mick Tingelhoff, who played his entire 17-year NFL career with the Vikings. The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 also includes WR/KR/PR Tim Brown, DE/LB Charles Haley, LB Junior Seau, G Will Shields, former Colts GM Bill Polian, and former Packers GM Ron Wolf.

NBC’s second preseason game will air on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m. ET, and features WR Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals vs. QB Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders from O.co Coliseum, in Oakland, Calif.

NBC Sports Live Extra will live stream the NFL/Hall of Fame Game to tablets and desktop computers. 

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Highlights of the 2015 Sunday Night Football schedule:

  • 19 primetime games, including the NFL’s opening game of the season, NFL Kickoff 2015 and NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game;
  • Every 2014 playoff team makes an appearance on Sunday Night Football; 16 of NBC’s 18 scheduled games (Week 17 game TBD) involve at least one playoff team from last season; 11 of 18 include two playoff teams – including rematches of both conference championship games (Seahawks-Packers on Sept. 20 and Patriots-Colts on Oct. 18);
  • Three games each for the Patriots, Seahawks, Packers, Broncos, Cowboys, and Steelers;
  • The Packers host the Bears on NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game. It is only the second Thanksgiving game to be played in Green Bay. The first – a Packers’ 19-0 win over the Hammond Pros on Nov. 29, 1923 – was highlighted by a touchdown reception and pass from Curly Lambeau, the namesake of Lambeau Field. NBC will broadcast a Thanksgiving night game each season through 2022;
  • Brady-Manning XVII as the New England Patriots visit the Denver Broncos on Nov. 29;
  • Three high-profile matchups continue on NBC — Giants-Cowboys (Sept. 13) on NBC for the sixth time in five seasons; and Eagles-Cowboys (Nov. 8) and Steelers-Ravens (Dec. 27) both on NBC for the seventh consecutive season – tying for the longest streak of matchups on the broadcast primetime package in NFL history (ABC 1970-2005; NBC 2006-present);
  • Memorable meetings in consecutive weeks in November, the first between quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) and Peyton Manning (Denver) since 2008 (Nov. 1) and Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, the 2014 NFL rushing leader, returns to Dallas to face his former Cowboys teammates (Nov. 8).

NBC TO BROADCAST 19 NFL GAMES IN 2015: As part of the agreement NBC signed with the NFL in December 2011, NBC, for the fourth straight season, will broadcast 19 regular-season games, including 17 regular-season Sunday Night Football games, NFL Kickoff 2015, and the annual Thanksgiving night game. NBC’s original Sunday Night Football agreement, which began in 2006, included 17 regular-season games. It was increased to 18 games in 2010.

SNF IS NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION: For four consecutive full television seasons, NBC’s Sunday Night Football has finished 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 only four times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season.  For the 2014-2015 primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranked as the highest-rated (12.5 HH rating), most-watched show (21.3 million, viewers 2+), and the No. 1 program in the key Adults 18-49 demographic (7.7 rating).

2015 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Thurs. Sept. 10  NFL Kickoff   Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
Sun. Sept. 13 Week 1    New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Sun. Sept. 20 Week 2    Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers
Sun. Sept. 27 Week 3    Denver Broncos at Detroit Lions
Sun. Oct. 4 Week 4  Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints
*Sun. Oct. 11 Week 5    San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants
*Sun. Oct. 18 Week 6  New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts
*Sun. Oct. 25 Week 7 Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers
*Sun. Nov. 1 Week 8 Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos 
*Sun. Nov. 8 Week 9 Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
*Sun. Nov. 15 Week 10 Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
*Sun. Nov. 22 Week 11   Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers
**Thurs. Nov. 26 Week 12 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
*Sun. Nov. 29 Week 12 New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
*Sun. Dec. 6 Week 13 Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers
*Sun. Dec. 13 Week 14 Seattle Seahawks at Baltimore Ravens
*Sun. Dec. 20 Week 15 Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers
*Sun. Dec. 27 Week 16 Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
*Sun. Jan. 3 Week 17 TBD

*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–