FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 12th, 2022
PATRICK MAHOMES, JOE BURROW, BEN ROETHLISBERGER & DEREK CARR HEADLINE NBC SPORTS’ AFC WILD CARD DOUBLEHEADER THIS WEEKEND ON NBC, PEACOCK, TELEMUNDO & UNIVERSO
Coverage of Raiders-Bengals Begins Saturday with Special Edition of Football Night in America at 3 p.m. ET Leading into Kickoff at 4:30 p.m. ET
Sunday’s Coverage of Steelers-Chiefs Begins with FNIA at 7:30 p.m. ET Followed by 8:15 p.m. ET Kickoff
“Sunday Night 7” Free-to-Play Game Features $1 Million Jackpot
STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 12, 2022 – NBC Sports presents a pair of AFC Super Wild Card Weekend matchups this weekend on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and Universo, beginning Saturday when Joe Burrow and the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals host Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and Universo. Coverage begins with a special 90-minute edition of Football Night in America at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
On Sunday, Patrick Mahomes and the AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs host Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and Telemundo. Sunday’s coverage gets underway with Football Night in America at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
NO. 5 RAIDERS (10-7) AT NO. 4 BENGALS (10-7) SATURDAY AT 4:30 P.M. ET ON NBC, PEACOCK AND UNIVERSO; FNIA COVERAGE BEGINS AT 3 P.M. ET
Cincinnati won the AFC North for the first time since 2015 after finishing in last place in 2020. Burrow, who will make his playoff debut, ranked second in the NFL in passer rating (108.3), sixth in passing yards (4,611) and eighth in touchdown passes (34) this season. Rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase led the AFC in receiving yards (1,455) during the regular season and set the NFL record for most receiving yards in a single season by a rookie.
The Raiders, coming off a thrilling 35-32 overtime victory over the Chargers on Sunday Night Football in the regular season finale to clinch a playoff berth, made the postseason for the first time since 2016. Carr will also make his playoff debut after becoming the fourth player with at least 3,000 passing yards in each of his first eight seasons in NFL history, with a career-high 4,804 yards this season.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees (analyst) will call the game from Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, joined by sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, and three-time Super Bowl referee and rules analyst Terry McAulay.
NBC Sports’ coverage of Las Vegas-Cincinnati is led by coordinating producer Rob Hyland and director Pierre Moossa.
A special 90-minute edition of Football Night in America features host Maria Taylor, Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, and NFL Insider Mike Florio. Co-host Jac Collinsworth and two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison will provide on-field analysis and reports from Paul Brown Stadium.
NO. 7 STEELERS (9-7-1) AT NO. 2 CHIEFS (12-5) SUNDAY AT 8:15 P.M. ET ON NBC, PEACOCK & TELEMUNDO; FNIA COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7:30 P.M. ET
Kansas City has now won six consecutive AFC West division titles. Mahomes, who has been a part of the past four division titles, finished fourth in the NFL in passing yards (4,839) and tied for fourth in touchdown passes (37) during the regular season.
The Steelers defeated division rival Baltimore, 16-13, in overtime in Week 18 to advance to the playoffs. Roethlisberger will tie Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana for the fourth-most playoff starts (23) by a quarterback on Sunday. Defensive end T.J. Watt led the league in sacks (22.5), tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan’s all-time single season sacks record.
Calling Steelers-Chiefs is Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his record 36th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth (analyst); and four-time Sports Emmy Award-winner Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter). McAulay will serve as the rules analyst.
The matchup will mark Tafoya’s 325th game as an NFL sideline reporter, the most national primetime TV games (regular + postseason) for an NFL sideline reporter.
NBC Sports’ coverage on Sunday is led by executive producer Fred Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff.
Taylor hosts Football Night in America on Sunday with Dungy, Simms, and Florio. Co-host Jac Collinsworth, Harrison, and Brees will provide on-field analysis and reports from Arrowhead Stadium.
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL CONCLUDES SEASON ON PACE TO BE TV’S #1 PRIMETIME SHOW FOR UNPRECEDENTED 11TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
With Sunday night’s Chargers-Raiders matchup, NBC Sports concluded its 16th season of Sunday Night Football, topping all primetime television series in the fall and once again pacing to finish as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented 11th consecutive year in the most competitive time slot in media. NBC’s SNF extended its record for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950).
NBC Sunday Night Football posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 19.3 million viewers for the 2021 season – up 11% from last season (17.4 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Over the course of the season, viewers watched nearly 70 billion minutes of SNF – the most in a season since 2016. For more details, click here.
PEACOCK TO LIVE STREAM ALL NBC NFL GAMES FOR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
For the first time ever, all of NBC Sports’ NFL regular-season games, playoff games, Super Bowl LVI, and Football Night in America will stream live on Peacock this season. Peacock features a slate of sports talk content NFL fans can enjoy on the NBC Sports channel, which is free to stream. Shows include Brother from Another, as well as The Dan Patrick Show, The Rich Eisen Show, PFT Live, PFT PM, Safety Blitz, The Peter King Podcast, and Chris Simms Unbuttoned.
To learn more about the NFL on Peacock, including how to watch and sign up, click here. Peacock Premium is included at no additional cost for Comcast’s eligible Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour customers.
NBCSPORTS.COM & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM ALL NBC NFL GAMES
NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream all NBC games to desktops, mobile, tablets, and connected TVs via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcasts. NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, and Chromecast.
TELEMUNDO DEPORTES TO PRESENT ENTIRE NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE, INCLUDING PLAYOFFS AND SUPER BOWL LVI
Telemundo Deportes will again carry the entire NBC Sunday Night Football package, including exclusive Spanish-language coverage of Super Bowl LVI, live for the first time on the Telemundo Network — marking the first time ever that a Super Bowl will be televised on a Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S. The package also includes 20 regular season games that will be televised on Universo, including the NFL Kickoff game and the Thanksgiving primetime game, as well as a Wild Card game, and one Divisional Playoff game. In addition, Telemundo Network will broadcast the Sunday primetime Wild Card game. All games will also be available on live stream via TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo Deportes app.
“SUNDAY NIGHT 7” FREE-TO-PLAY GAME TO FEATURE $1 MILLION JACKPOT THROUGH DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
NBC Sports’ free-to-play NFL game, Sunday Night 7, will offer its $1 million weekly jackpot each week through the Divisional playoffs. Sunday Night 7 is available for download NOW on the NBC Sports Predictor app powered by PointsBet (available in the App Store and Google Play Store) and at NBCSports.com/Predictor.
In Sunday’s game, one user finished in first place with a score of 50 points.
POINTSBET AND NBC SPORTS INCLUDE EXCLUSIVE BETTING INTEGRATIONS INTO FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA AND PEACOCK SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL FINAL POST-GAME SHOW
This season, PointsBet and NBC Sports include exclusive betting integrations on the Football Night in America studio show and the new Peacock Sunday Night Football Final postgame show. Click here for more information.
PETER KING’S NFL COLUMN “FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA” DEBUTS EVERY MONDAY EXCLUSIVELY ON NBCSPORTS.COM
A new “Football Morning in America” will post every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports. The Peter King Podcast streams weekly on Peacock on Thursdays at 6 p.m. ET.
CHRIS SIMMS UNBUTTONED
NBC Sports’ Chris Simms examines everything happening in the NFL and around the sports world. Along with a rotation of NBC Sports hosts including Ahmed Fareed and Paul Burmeister, Chris Simms Unbuttoned analyses the NFL with in-depth Xs and Os breakdowns; one-on-one interviews with players, coaches and executives; and game recaps and preview. The show is available to stream on Peacock on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET.
NBC SPORTS EDGE
NBC Sports EDGE, part of the newly announced NBC Sports Next portfolio and one of the internet’s highest-trafficked fantasy sports and gaming websites, offers comprehensive fantasy football and betting coverage throughout the 2021 NFL season across NBC Sports’ platforms. The industry-leading source for fantasy football news and information, the 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Guide is available for purchase now via NBC Sports EDGE’s subscription model beginning at only $3.99 per month, and features more than 450 extensive player profiles, player projections, positional tiers, Top 200 rankings for PPR, Half-PPR, Non-PPR and Dynasty, as well as Individual Defensive Player rankings, sleepers and busts, drafting strategy articles, team reports and much more. NBC Sports EDGE also provides fantasy football coverage and betting insights through its digital shows, A Good Football Show and Bet the Edge.
PFT LIVE – WEEKDAYS AT 7 A.M. ET ON PEACOCK
Pro Football Talk streams live on Peacock’s NBC Sports on Peacock channel from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET on weekdays and re-airs at 9 a.m. ET on Peacock. Florio is joined by veteran sports commentator Mike Golic on Monday mornings, co-host and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms from Tuesday – Thursday, with a special guest co-hosting on Fridays.
The two-hour PFT Live is known for delivering inside information and comprehensive analysis from an independent perspective. The show covers all the latest news around the league, breaks down reports and rumors and features interviews with players, coaches and executives.
PODCASTS
NBC Sports’ football podcasts provide extensive weekly offerings from NBC Sports’ most popular personalities and present special guests, exclusive interviews, and robust conversations across all of football on The Peter King Podcast, Chris Simms Unbuttoned, PFT PM, and A Good Football Show. While The Peter King Podcast features intimate discussions with the NFL’s top players, Chris Simms Unbuttoned and PFT PM dive into deep conversations around the sports’ hottest topics, and A Good Football Show explores fantasy implications for fans. New episodes of NBC Sports podcasts are available for download each week on all major podcast platforms including:
NBCSports.com/podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and iHeart.
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SOCIAL MEDIA
- SNF ON INSTAGRAM: Through the unique filter of Instagram, fans will get an in-depth look at each week’s Sunday Night Football game with the most engaging photos and videos from across the NFL. SNF also utilizes Instagram Stories for up-to-the-minute coverage of the league.
- SNF ON TWITTER: The very latest news, video, analysis from the Football Night in America crew and much more lives on @SNFonNBC, the real-time engine for NBC’s year-round NFL coverage.
- SNF ON FACEBOOK: With more than 3.5 million followers, SNF’s Facebook page is the hub of football conversation. It’s the place to converse and engage with fellow fans on the latest news and action across the NFL.
- NBC SPORTS ON TIKTOK: NBC Sports’ presence on TikTok puts the spotlight on the offbeat and exuberant side of the National Football League for a young, highly-engaged audience.
NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS
NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia and NBC Sports Washington will again deliver extensive multiplatform coverage of the 2021 NFL season, led by comprehensive live gameday shows, in-depth news, analysis and commentary programming, and multimedia digital content covering the teams in their respective markets.
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
Seven-time Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist Carrie Underwood stars in the show open for NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
Shot at Industrial Light & Magic’s cutting edge LED sound stage utilizing the company’s StageCraft LED virtual production technology recently used in “The Mandalorian,” the 2021 Sunday Night Football show open for the first time will feature a virtual football tailgate as a backdrop for Underwood’s performance of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night.”
In addition, the show open will highlight user-generated cameos from some of the NFL’s biggest stars, as well as fans’ self-recorded video from NFL tailgates.
–SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL–
