NBC Sunday Night Football (сокращенно SNF ) — американская еженедельная телевизионная трансляция игр Национальной футбольной лиги (НФЛ) на каналах NBC и Peacock в США. Она начала выходить в эфир 6 августа 2006 года с игры Pro Football Hall of Fame Game [1] ,которая открыла предсезонку того года. NBC приобрела права натрансляцию игр в прайм-тайм в воскресенье у ESPN , которая транслировала их с 1987 по 2005 год . В то же время ESPN начала транслировать Monday Night Football , когда она была исключена из дочерней сети ABC . Ранее NBC транслировала игры Американской футбольной лиги (AFL), а затем Американской футбольной конференции (AFC) с 1965 по 1997 год , когдаэти права перешли к CBS .
В сезоне 2011–12 годов Sunday Night Football стала первой спортивной программой, которая удерживала позицию самой просматриваемой программы Nielsen на американском сетевом телевидении в течение года, [2] обойдя American Idol , который удерживал это звание в течение восьми сезонов подряд, начиная с 2004 года; [3] Sunday Night Football повторила этот подвиг три года подряд, начиная с сезона 2013–14 годов .
После того, как NBC взяла на себя права на игру в прайм-тайм в воскресенье, Эл Майклс , Джон Мэдден , Фред Годелли и Дрю Эсокофф, которые были комментаторами, ведущими продюсерами и режиссерами, присоединились к SNF на тех же должностях, которые они занимали в конце эпохи Monday Night Football на ABC . Мэдден ушел в отставку до сезона 2009 года [4] , и его место занял Коллинсворт. Тирико сменил Майклса после Суперкубка LVI в феврале 2022 года.
С 2014 года дочерний кабельный канал Universo транслирует на испанском языке одновременные трансляции избранных игр после многих лет неудачных попыток транслировать игры на Telemundo . Как и другие телевизионные партнеры НФЛ, NBC предоставляет аудиотрансляцию игр на испанском языке через вторую аудиопрограмму (SAP), ранее отмеченную как «предоставляемую Telemundo» до ребрендинга спортивного подразделения этой организации на Telemundo Deportes . С перезапуском бывшего mun2 1 февраля 2015 года Universo начал транслировать весь сезон с началом сезона 2015 года и одновременную трансляцию Super Bowl XLIX , канала, транслирующего на испанском языке одновременные трансляции игр НФЛ и спортивных мероприятий NBC. Позднее Telemundo будет транслировать на испанском языке некоторые игры, начиная с 2021 года, с игры NFL Super Wild Card. Telemundo также транслировал Суперкубок LVI в 2022 году. В последнее время TeleXitos практически круглосуточно транслировал программы Universo и в результате показывал футбольные трансляции.
Трансляция NBC начинается в 7 вечера по восточному времени с предматчевого шоу , которое длится до начала матча (которое обычно происходит около 8:20 вечера по восточному времени). Шоу служит той же цели, что и NFL Primetime для ESPN, предлагая обзоры ранних действий, а также превью предстоящей игры. Шоу выходит из студии NBC Sports в Коннектикуте, а также с места проведения игры. Мария Тейлор , Крис Симмс , Джейсон Гарретт , Девин МакКурти , Майк Флорио и Мэтью Берри ведут трансляцию из студии, а Джек Коллинсворт , Тони Данджи и Родни Харрисон ведут репортаж с игры. Тирико, Коллинсворт и Старк также появятся.
В 2021 году на потоковом сервисе NBC Peacock началось транслирование послематчевого шоу под названием Peacock Sunday Night Football Final . [5] Первоначально ведущими шоу были Кэтрин Таппен и Симмс, а в настоящее время его ведут Джек Коллинсворт, Данджи и Харрисон.
Текущий контракт NBC с НФЛ, который действует с сезона 2023 года по сезон 2034 года, [6] включает права на открытие сезона в четверг вечером NFL Kickoff Game , еще одну игру в прайм-тайм, сыгранную в День благодарения, и по крайней мере две игры плей-офф , одну в раунде Super Wild Card и одну в дивизионных плей-офф, а также дополнительную игру плей-офф Wild Card в сезонах 2023, 2026 и 2031 годов. [6] NBC чередует права на Суперкубок с другими держателями телевизионных прав НФЛ, получая права в 2026 году (для Суперкубка LX ), 2030 году (для Суперкубка LXIV) и 2034 году (для Суперкубка LXVIII), все в годы зимних Олимпийских игр. [6] В период с 2006 по 2014 год NBC также имела права на Про Боул, но с 2015 года уступила их ESPN.
В период с 2023 по 2028 год NBC имеет права на эксклюзивную трансляцию одной дополнительной игры регулярного сезона на Peacock . В 2023 году это был матч между Bills и Chargers, а четвертый квартал был показан без рекламы. В 2024 году Peacock будет транслировать игру первой недели между Eagles и Packers в пятницу вечером после стартовой игры — в матче, который станет первым матчем НФЛ в Бразилии. [7] Медиаконтракт НФЛ предусматривает права на эксклюзивную трансляцию одной игры плей-офф Wild Card, и Peacock получила права на трансляцию одной в сезоне 2023-24 в дополнение к 2 играм Wild Card, которые NBC уже имела по контракту, а именно матчу между Chiefs и Dolphins. [8] С 2024 года эксклюзивная потоковая трансляция игры плей-офф будет осуществляться Amazon Prime. [9] Все игры NBC NFL по телевидению транслируются на Telemundo Deportes на испанском языке.
NBC в настоящее время является домом ежегодной игры Зала славы профессионального футбола , которая открывает предсезонку НФЛ каждый август. Обычно игра транслируется в воскресенье после церемонии введения в Зал славы накануне вечером. В 2017 году игра была перенесена на четверг перед церемонией введения, что сделало игру официальным началом выходных Зала славы. Из-за обязательств NBC по трансляции летних Олимпийских игр , в каждый год проведения игр Игра Зала славы переносится на другой канал - Fox в 2021 году [10] и ESPN/ ABC в 2024 году [11] В годы летних Олимпийских игр NBC проводит другую предсезонную игру вместо Игры Зала славы, как правило, в последнюю неделю предсезонного расписания. В 2021 году это был матч между Atlanta Falcons и Cleveland Browns [12] , а в 2024 году это был матч между New England Patriots и Washington Commanders [13] .
Первая игра регулярного сезона, показанная NBC по этому контракту, между Miami Dolphins и Pittsburgh Steelers , вышла в эфир 7 сентября 2006 года , за ней последовала первая игра в воскресенье вечером — между Indianapolis Colts и New York Giants — 10 сентября 2006 года. Фактическая первая игра серии — Игра Зала славы профессионального футбола 2006 года между Oakland Raiders и Philadelphia Eagles — была показана по телевидению 6 августа 2006 года.
NBC Sunday Night Football является бенефициаром новой гибкой системы расписания лиги . Поскольку NFL теперь считает SNF своей главной игрой недели, в течение последних семи недель сезона (семь из последних восьми недель в сезонах 2006, 2011 , 2016 , 2017 , 2022 и 2023 годов из-за рождественских выходных), NFL имеет гибкость в выборе игр, которые более интригуют и, как правило, имеют последствия для плей-офф, для трансляции в воскресенье вечером.
В своих первых четырех сезонах воскресного ночного освещения NBC брал одну неделю отпуска в конце октября или начале ноября, чтобы не конфликтовать с освещением Fox бейсбольной Мировой серии . В 2006 году NBC не транслировал игру 22 октября, что было запланированной датой для второй игры Мировой серии 2006 года , но потенциальный конфликт все еще существовал 29 октября, если бы серия дошла до седьмой игры (конфликт так и не возник, поскольку Cardinals выиграли Мировую серию в пяти играх). С изменением расписания Мировой серии, начавшимся в 2007 году , NBC не транслировал игру NFL, чтобы избежать конфликта с четвертой игрой Мировой серии, которая является первым шансом для команды выиграть серию. В 2007 году не было игры 28 октября; в 2008 году не было игры 26 октября; а в 2009 году 1 ноября игра не проводилась. Хотя в эти вечера игры не транслировались, «Ночь футбола в Америке» по-прежнему выходила в эфир, как и планировалось, в 19:00 по восточному времени.
NBC транслировал игру 31 октября 2010 года и снова 23 октября 2011 года, напротив 4-й игры Мировой серии на Fox в обоих случаях. В обеих играх New Orleans Saints играли дома, сначала в 2010 году против Pittsburgh Steelers , затем в 2011 году против Indianapolis Colts . У New Orleans и Indianapolis нет команд Высшей лиги бейсбола , а у Pittsburgh Pirates были плохие сезонные выступления в те последние годы, на тот момент не имея победного рекорда с 1992 года . Однако у Indianapolis есть команда Minor League Triple AAA, которая связана с Pirates, а у New Orleans есть команда Triple AAA, связанная с Miami Marlins .
Рейтинги этих результатов были неоднозначными: в 2010 году победу одержала НФЛ, а в 2011 году — МЛБ. В то время как «Сэйнтс» выиграли обе игры, матч 2010 года с главной ничьей по рейтингу в лице «Стиллерз» в сочетании с матчем 2011 года против «Кольтс», который завершился разгромом со счетом 62–7, в то время как четвертая игра Мировой серии 2011 года между « Сент-Луис Кардиналс» и «Техас Рейнджерс» была более напряженной, что привело к снижению рейтингов в 2011 году. [14]
В 2012 году НФЛ снова запланировала игру New Orleans Saints на SNF в конце октября, на этот раз против Denver Broncos на Sports Authority Field в Mile High 28 октября ( в Денвере есть команда MLB, Colorado Rockies , которая имела ограниченный успех в последние сезоны, хотя они и не боролись за Национальную лигу Запад в 2012 году ). Игра в итоге была запланирована напротив четвертой (и последней) игры Мировой серии 2012 года .
В 2013 году SNF транслировал матч - соперничество Green Bay Packers – Minnesota Vikings на стадионе Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 27 октября, напротив 4-й игры Мировой серии 2013 года . И у Packers, и у Vikings есть бейсбольные команды в их родных штатах ( Milwaukee Brewers из Висконсина и Twins из Миннесоты ), но обе команды Главной лиги бейсбола боролись в 2013 году .
Игра 2014 года между Green Bay Packers и New Orleans Saints в Новом Орлеане была запланирована против пятой игры Мировой серии 2014 года , которая в рамках формата из семи игр будет сыграна только в случае необходимости (разделение в первых двух играх между San Francisco Giants и Kansas City Royals гарантировало, что серии понадобится не менее пяти игр, чтобы определить чемпиона). Высшая лига бейсбола перенесла начало серии на вторник вместо среды, чтобы избежать конкуренции с НФЛ в четверг и понедельник вечером в дополнение к воскресному вечеру. [15]
В 2015 году НФЛ снова запланировала Green Bay Packers сыграть на SNF , на этот раз против Denver Broncos на Sports Authority Field в Mile High 1 ноября. И Packers, и Broncos вышли на игру непобежденными со счетом 6–0. Однако игра была запланирована напротив пятой (и последней) игры Мировой серии 2015 года между Kansas City Royals и New York Mets в ту ночь. И Packers, и Broncos имеют бейсбольные команды в своих родных штатах (Milwaukee Brewers из Висконсина и Colorado Rockies из Колорадо), но обе эти команды MLB выступили плохо в том сезоне .
В 2016 году SNF транслировал игру соперничества Philadelphia Eagles – Dallas Cowboys на стадионе AT&T 30 октября, напротив пятой игры Мировой серии 2016 года между Cleveland Indians и Chicago Cubs . У Eagles и Cowboys есть бейсбольные команды в их родных городах ( Phillies из Филадельфии и Texas Rangers из Далласа , последние играют в близлежащем Globe Life Park в Арлингтоне, штат Техас ). Phillies не боролись за титул Национальной лиги Востока в 2016 году , в то время как Rangers выиграли титул Американской лиги Запада в том сезоне, но проиграли в трех играх Toronto Blue Jays в ALDS ; С другой стороны, Cleveland Browns и Chicago Bears , франшизы НФЛ городов-участников Мировой серии, в последние годы выступали на нижних позициях своих соответствующих дивизионов, а проблемы Browns начались еще во время возвращения команды в лигу в 1999 году . Что касается двух игр, которые транслировались одновременно 30 октября, Cubs обыграли Indians со счетом 3–2, чтобы провести 6-ю игру Мировой серии 1 ноября, в то время как Cowboys обыграли Eagles со счетом 29–23 в дополнительное время.
В 2017 году НФЛ снова запланировала матч Pittsburgh Steelers на канале SNF , на этот раз против Detroit Lions 29 октября. Эта игра транслировалась напротив пятой игры Мировой серии 2017 года между Los Angeles Dodgers и Houston Astros . У Steelers и Lions есть бейсбольные команды в их родных городах ( Pittsburgh 's Pirates и Detroit 's Tigers , последние играют в близлежащем Comerica Park в Детройте), но ни один из их коллег по бейсболу не преуспел в том сезоне ; Что касается франшиз НФЛ городов-участников Мировой серии, то Los Angeles Rams (которые вернулись в Лос-Анджелес из Сент-Луиса в 2016 году) боролись за NFC West до 8-й недели сезона 2017 года (тем временем другая команда Лос-Анджелеса, Los Angeles Chargers , которые переехали из Сан-Диего в 2017 году, боролись в тот же момент сезона), в то время как Houston Texans , которые выходили в плей-офф в предыдущих двух сезонах, также боролись. Что касается двух игр, которые транслировались одновременно 29 октября, Steelers победили Lions со счетом 20–15, в то время как в пятой игре Мировой серии Astros победили Dodgers со счетом 13–12 за 10 иннингов, однако победа была подвергнута тщательному анализу после того, как было обнаружено, что Astros использовали свистки, чтобы подсказывать игрокам о том, какой будет подача во время игры, а также использовали мусорные баки в течение сезона.
В 2018 году в пятый раз НФЛ запланировала New Orleans Saints сыграть в соревновательной игре Sunday Night World Series, на этот раз против Minnesota Vikings , в матче-реванше игры Minneapolis Miracle . Однако эта игра оказалась запланированной напротив пятой (и последней) игры World Series 2018 года , между сезоном Los Angeles Dodgers и Boston Red Sox в ту ночь. В городе Миннеаполисе есть команда MLB, однако Minnesota Twins не смогли пройти квалификацию в постсезон в 2018 году . Что касается города Новый Орлеан, у них нет команды MLB. Что касается команд, которые играют, Red Sox показали лучший результат в MLB, в то время как футбольная команда города, New England Patriots , ехала со счетом 5–2 в 7 играх. Тем временем Dodgers завоевали вымпел Национальной лиги второй год подряд, что касается двух команд города, то Los Angeles Rams на тот момент были последней непобежденной командой в НФЛ со счетом 7–0, в то время как Los Angeles Chargers начали со счетом 5–2 и отставали на полигры от главного соперника Kansas City Chiefs в гонке AFC West (Chiefs выиграли титул AFC West в том сезоне, прежде чем уступить будущему чемпиону Super Bowl LIII Patriots в игре за звание чемпиона AFC). Rams затем спорно выиграли игру за звание чемпиона NFC против Saints в дополнительное время, но затем проиграли Patriots в Super Bowl LIII.
В 2019 году в четвертый раз НФЛ запланировала, что Green Bay Packers сыграют в матче-реванше Sunday Night Football – World Series, на этот раз против Kansas City Chiefs в матче-реванше Super Bowl I. Эта игра транслировалась напротив пятой игры Мировой серии 2019 года между Houston Astros и Washington Nationals . И у Packers, и у Chiefs есть бейсбольные команды в их родных штатах (Milwaukee Brewers из Висконсина вышли в постсезон, но проиграли будущему чемпиону Мировой серии Nationals в игре NL Wild Card, а Kansas City Royals из Миссури не смогли выйти в плей-офф четвертый сезон подряд). Что касается двух игр, которые транслировались одновременно 27 октября, «Пэкерс» обыграли «Чифс» со счетом 31–24, а в пятой игре Мировой серии (в которой счет в серии был равным 2–2) «Астрос» обыграли «Нэшионалс» со счетом 7–1 перед шестой игрой Мировой серии 29 октября.
В 2020 году впервые НФЛ изменила игру, которая была запланирована против Fall Classic. Лига изменила игру Seattle Seahawks – Arizona Cardinals на соревновательную игру Sunday Night Football – World Series вместо изначально запланированной игры Tampa Bay Buccaneers против Las Vegas Raiders , которая была изменена из-за вспышки COVID-19 у Raiders . Эта игра транслировалась напротив игры 5 Мировой серии 2020 года между Tampa Bay Rays и Los Angeles Dodgers . В Лас-Вегасе нет команды MLB, в то время как в Аризоне, Сиэтле и Тампе-Бэй все команды есть. Что касается этих двух игр, Cardinals отставали, чтобы победить Seattle со счетом 37–34 в дополнительное время, в то время как в игре 5 Мировой серии (из которой сама серия была сравняна со счетом 2–2) Dodgers победили Rays со счетом 4–2. Два дня спустя «Доджерс» снова выиграли со счетом 3–1, обеспечив команде первый чемпионский титул с 1988 года .
В сезоне 2021 года НФЛ запланировала игру Dallas Cowboys – Minnesota Vikings в качестве игры-соревнования Sunday Night Football World Series. Это был первый раз с 2016 и 2018 годов соответственно, когда обе команды играли на SNF против Fall Classic. Эта игра транслировалась напротив пятой игры Мировой серии 2021 года между Atlanta Braves и Houston Astros . В то время как у Далласа и Миннесоты есть команды MLB в их родных штатах, и Texas Rangers, и Minnesota Twins выступили плохо в том сезоне. Astros выиграли ту игру со счетом 9–5, чтобы остаться в серии, но проиграли два дня спустя, поскольку Braves выиграли свой первый титул с 1995 года .
В сезоне 2022 года впервые с 2009 года не было ни одного случая, когда бы и игра SNF , и игра Мировой серии проходили в один и тот же день, но впервые были сыграны только игры NFL. Первоначально NFL запланировала игру Green Bay Packers – Buffalo Bills в качестве конкурирующего соревнования, которое должно было состояться 30 октября; однако, поскольку Высшая лига бейсбола начала Мировую серию 28 октября, а также отчасти из-за локаута перед сезоном и расширения постсезона до 12 команд (что включает серию матчей до трех побед), этот день стал днем путешествий. Мировая серия 2022 года между Philadelphia Phillies и Houston Astros началась в пятницу, а не во вторник, как в прошлые годы. Поскольку Minute Maid Park , место, на котором началась серия, имеет раздвижную крышу , как и ожидалось, ни одна из первых двух игр не была отложена. Однако, Игра 3 (первая игра после того, как серия переместилась в Филадельфию) была отложена 31 октября; в то время MLB объявила, что все оставшиеся игры будут сыграны на один день позже запланированного. Это создало возможный конфликт между игрой 7 и матчем 6 ноября между Tennessee Titans и Kansas City Chiefs . Но этого удалось избежать, когда 3 ноября Astros победили Phillies со счетом 4–1 и выиграли титул, свой второй за шесть сезонов, а другой был в печально известном сезоне 2017 года . (По иронии судьбы, это совпало с игрой Thursday Night Football между франшизами NFL, где базируются Astros и Phillies). Ближайшая к Packers команда MLB — Milwaukee Brewers , на официально общем с ними рынке, в то время как ближайшими соседями Bills по MLB являются Toronto Blue Jays . Последние два города взаимосвязаны в обоих видах спорта; команды 2020 и 2021 годов провели несколько домашних игр в Буффало из-за пандемии COVID-19, в то время как Bills однажды провели избранные домашние игры в Rogers Centre в Торонто . У Теннесси нет соседней команды MLB, в то время как Kansas City Royals , соседняя команда MLB в Канзас-Сити, не одержала ни одной победы в седьмой сезон подряд в 2022 году, охватывая каждый сезон с момента своего последнего титула Мировой серии в 2015 году .
В 2023 году Высшая лига бейсбола объявила, что не будет планировать игру Мировой серии против SNF во второй сезон подряд, за исключением случаев переноса игр из-за неблагоприятных погодных условий, чего не произошло. [16]
В 2024 году Высшая лига бейсбола объявила, что планирует не планировать игру Мировой серии против SNF в третьем сезоне подряд, за исключением любых переносов игр из-за неблагоприятных погодных условий. Первая игра Мировой серии в настоящее время запланирована на 25 октября, однако, если оба матча Лиги чемпионата серии закончатся к 19 октября, то вместо этого Fall Classic начнется 22 октября, поэтому вполне возможно, что 27 октября издание SNF может совпасть с возможной пятой игрой, что станет первым случаем с 2021 года, когда SNF встретится лицом к лицу с Мировой серией. Эта игра может быть перенесена при необходимости в ожидании соглашений с Fox Sports (NBC и Fox являются вещателями NFL, с неписаными джентльменскими соглашениями в силе).
23 октября 2022 года впервые NBC показал гонку NASCAR Cup Series и игру SNF из одного и того же мегаполиса в один и тот же день. В гонке, которая началась в 14:30 по восточному времени , Кайл Ларсон выиграл Dixie Vodka 400 на автодроме Homestead–Miami Speedway ; затем в игре, которая началась в 20:25 (на несколько минут позже обычного из-за церемоний в честь Miami Dolphins 1972 года , до сих пор единственной команды НФЛ, завершившей непобежденный сезон, включая плей-офф), Miami Dolphins победили Pittsburgh Steelers со счетом 16-10 на стадионе Hard Rock Stadium . Оба стадиона находятся в округе Майами-Дейд, штат Флорида .
Игра SNF 27 сентября 2020 года между Green Bay Packers и New Orleans Saints побудила Национальную хоккейную лигу (НХЛ) запланировать 4-ю и 5-ю игры финала Кубка Стэнли 2020 года на предыдущие два дня один за другим, поскольку NBC по контракту была обязана транслировать все потенциальные решающие матчи серии в эфире. Это стало результатом того, что сезон НХЛ был приостановлен более чем на четыре месяца из-за пандемии COVID-19 ранее, что вызвало нетипичный конфликт между видами спорта. У Packers и Saints нет команд НХЛ на их рынке (второй основной рынок Packers, Милуоки, принимает филиал Nashville Predators Американской хоккейной лиги, Milwaukee Admirals , который приостановил игру на сезон 2020-21, который планировался для АХЛ), в то время как на обоих рынках финала Кубка Стэнли ( Dallas Stars ) и ( Tampa Bay Lightning ) есть команды НФЛ на их рынке ( Dallas Cowboys ) и ( Tampa Bay Buccaneers ). Cowboys пропустили плей-офф, а Buccaneers выиграли Суперкубок несколько месяцев спустя, в феврале.
В том же сезоне НФЛ 2020 года две игры финала НБА , транслировавшиеся на канале ABC , прошли против игр SNF : Philadelphia Eagles против San Francisco 49ers 4 октября (игра 3) и Minnesota Vikings против Seattle Seahawks 11 октября (игра 6, которая также стала решающей победой Los Angeles Lakers ). Это стало результатом того, что сезон НБА был приостановлен более чем на четыре месяца из-за пандемии COVID-19 ранее, что вызвало нетипичный конфликт между видами спорта. У Eagles ( Philadelphia 76ers ), 49ers ( Golden State Warriors ) и Vikings ( Minnesota Timberwolves ) есть команды НБА на их рынках, но из трех команд 76ers были единственной командой, которая вышла в плей-офф, в конечном итоге проиграв в первом раунде, так как Warriors, чемпионы Западной конференции предыдущих пяти сезонов, и Timberwolves имели ограниченный успех в сезоне 2019-20. У Seahawks раньше была команда НБА на их рынке ( Seattle SuperSonics ), но они переехали в Оклахома-Сити, чтобы стать Oklahoma City Thunder .
Начиная с сезона НБА 2025–2026 годов, NBC Sports намерена транслировать Sunday Night Basketball на канале NBC после завершения сезона НФЛ.
В сезоне 2006 года, в дополнение к выходным дням Мировой серии, не было запланировано ни одной игры на Сочельник ; NBC транслировала игру той недели ( Eagles at Cowboys ) вместо этого в рождественский полдень. Получасовая версия Football Night in America транслировалась перед рождественской игрой и двумя играми "Wild Card Saturday". В сезоне 2006 года изначально не было запланировано ни одной игры на NBC в затронутые недели - вместо этого слот расписания для игры NBC был оставлен вакантным, а одна игра в воскресенье днем была перенесена в слот прайм-тайм (в расписании для затронутых недель просто говорилось "одна из этих игр будет перенесена на 8:15 по восточному времени"). CBS и Fox могли защитить по четыре своих игры в течение недель с 10 по 15, а также защитить по одной своей игре на неделе 17; однако эти две сети должны были решить, какие игры защищать в начале октября 2006 года, после 4-й недели сезона НФЛ.
Впервые с тех пор, как NBC получила права на SNF , было обнародовано предварительное расписание на весь сезон, включая игры в последние семь недель сезона. Эти игры можно было заменить по гибкому графику, если возникнет такая необходимость. Те же правила, по которым CBS и Fox защищают игры для своих пакетов, по-прежнему действуют.
Три игры за последние семь недель сезона в конечном итоге были заменены более интересными матчами. Это привело к ситуации — дважды — когда команда играла в последовательные воскресные вечера. У Новой Англии были последовательные воскресные вечера: игра 18 ноября в Буффало была перенесена в прайм-тайм, а за ней 25 ноября последовала уже запланированная игра Филадельфии в Новой Англии. Аналогичным образом, Вашингтон Редскинс сыграли запланированную игру в Нью-Йорк Джайентс 16 декабря, а их игра 23 декабря в Миннесоте была перенесена в прайм-тайм. На последней неделе сезона игра Теннесси Тайтенс — Индианаполис Колтс была перенесена, поменявшись местами с игрой Канзас-Сити Чифс — Нью-Йорк Джетс , которая изначально была запланирована на слот воскресного вечера; Титанам нужна была победа, чтобы обеспечить себе последнее место в плей-офф АФК .
Кроме того, ежегодная предсезонная трансляция Матча за звание чемпиона Зала славы профессионального футбола была перенесена на канал NFL Network в ожидании трансляции на канале NBC матча China Bowl из Пекина; однако China Bowl был отменен.
Расписание 2008 года, опубликованное 15 апреля, продолжило практику 2007 года, когда запланированная игра могла быть перенесена в пользу более интересной в течение недель 11–16 (с 16 ноября по 21 декабря), но оставило слот открытым в последнее воскресенье, 28 декабря. Стартовый матч НФЛ между Washington Redskins и действующим чемпионом Суперкубка New York Giants , который состоялся 4 сентября, начался в 19:00 по восточному времени вместо обычного времени в 20:30, чтобы избежать конфликта с речью о выдвижении кандидатуры, которую Джон Маккейн произнес на Национальном съезде Республиканской партии тем вечером; игра закончилась в 22:01 по восточному времени, что предотвратило любой конфликт.
Как и в 2007 году, команда играла в последовательные воскресные вечера из-за того, что игра была перенесена на вечерний интервал воскресенья. За первоначально запланированной игрой New York Giants- Dallas Cowboys 14 декабря последовала гибкая домашняя игра 21 декабря для Giants против Carolina Panthers ; игра Giants-Panthers была гибкой, потому что она имела серьезные последствия для плей-офф, так как победитель обеспечивал NFC первое место посева и преимущество домашнего поля на протяжении всего плей-офф NFC. Это была вторая из трех гибких игр, с межконференционным матчем 7 декабря между Baltimore Ravens и Washington Redskins , вытеснившими New England Patriots в игре Seattle Seahawks . Лига заполнила свободное место 28 декабря игрой между Denver Broncos и San Diego Chargers с серьезными последствиями для плей-офф, так как победитель этой игры выигрывал AFC West, а проигравший выбывал.
Расписание 2009 года, опубликованное 14 апреля, продолжило практику 2007 и 2008 годов, когда игра проводилась каждое воскресенье вечером в течение сезона (за исключением Мировой серии), но было объявлено, что игры на неделях с 11 по 16 (с 22 ноября по 27 декабря) могут быть изменены, если возникнет более убедительный матч. Схема расписаний 2007 и 2008 годов была продолжена, поскольку слот для последнего воскресного вечера сезона — 3 января 2010 года — остался вакантным. Две игры были «гибкими» в сезоне 2009 года, поскольку игра Minnesota Vikings — Arizona Cardinals заменила оригинальный матч 6 декабря между New England Patriots и Miami Dolphins .
Чтобы заполнить вакантный игровой слот на последнюю неделю сезона, NBC дали матч между Cincinnati Bengals и New York Jets , который изначально был запланирован на 16:15 по восточному времени на CBS, причем эта игра имела последствия для плей-офф для обеих команд. Для Jets победа вывела бы их в плей-офф, в то время как у Bengals был потенциал улучшить свой посев для плей-офф с победой. Игра Jets-Bengals в итоге стала последней игрой, сыгранной на стадионе Giants (Jets могли бы принять игру за звание чемпиона AFC, но Baltimore Ravens проиграли в дивизионном раунде Indianapolis Colts ).
Расписание 2010 года, опубликованное 20 апреля, впервые с момента вступления в силу контракта NBC на воскресный вечер поместило игру в воскресенье вечером ( Pittsburgh Steelers против New Orleans Saints ) против игры Мировой серии. Оно также продолжило предыдущую практику планирования игры в воскресенье вечером в течение каждой недели сезона и объявления игр на неделях с 11 по 16 (с 21 ноября по 26 декабря) «гибкими играми», что означало, что они возвращались на воскресенье днем, если возникала более привлекательная ситуация.
Игра 16-й недели между Minnesota Vikings и Philadelphia Eagles , первоначально запланированная на 26 декабря, была перенесена на 28 декабря из-за сильной метели , которая затронула большую часть восточной части Соединенных Штатов . НФЛ отложила игру после того, как мэр Филадельфии Майкл Наттер объявил в городе чрезвычайную ситуацию из-за снега. [17] [18] Это была 23-я игра НФЛ, сыгранная во вторник, но первая с 1946 года . [17] [18] Это была единственная игра, за исключением последнего воскресного вечера, которая была «смещена» в сезоне 2010 года; первоначальное расписание предполагало, что San Diego Chargers сыграют с Bengals в Цинциннати (игра была перенесена на CBS и действительно была отключена в Цинциннати). По этой причине полный 90-минутный выпуск «Футбольной ночи» вышел в эфир 26 декабря, а короткий пятиминутный анонс был показан перед игрой 28-го числа, в то время как вступительное слово Фэйт Хилл не было показано из-за ограничений по времени перед началом матча.
В матче 17-й недели NBC представили матч между командами 7–8 St. Louis Rams и 6–9 Seattle Seahawks в игре до победного конца, где победитель игры квалифицировался в плей-офф как чемпион NFC West, а проигравший выбывал. Seattle Seahawks победили St. Louis Rams со счетом 16–6, таким образом, пройдя в плей-офф, в то время как Rams выбыли из борьбы за плей-офф. [19]
Расписание 2011 года, опубликованное 19 апреля, снова поместило игру в воскресенье вечером ( Indianapolis Colts против New Orleans Saints 23 октября, четвертый раз подряд, когда эти команды играли друг с другом на национальном телевидении) напротив игры Мировой серии. Игры в воскресенье вечером с 13 ноября по 18 декабря (включительно) были «гибкими играми», которые могли бы вернуться в воскресенье днем, если бы возник более конкурентный матч (один был; см. ниже). Последний воскресный вечер сезона — 1 января 2012 года — также был «гибким игрой»; слот, вакантный на момент публикации расписания, был заполнен игрой между Dallas Cowboys и New York Giants (см. ниже). Игра Зала славы, запланированная на 7 августа и транслируемая на NBC, была отменена из-за локаута в то межсезонье; это была единственная игра, которая была затронута.
8 ноября НФЛ объявила, что игра- соперничество 13-й недели между Indianapolis Colts и New England Patriots перенесена на 13:00 по восточному времени на CBS, в то время как замена будет объявлена до 22 ноября. [20] Это было связано с тем, что Colts испытывали трудности без своего звездного квотербека Пейтона Мэннинга (без него Colts проиграли New Orleans Saints со счетом 62–7 в воскресной ночной игре 23 октября). Это также стало первым случаем, когда НФЛ объявила о переносе воскресной ночной игры на вторую половину дня без одновременного объявления замены. 21 ноября матч между Detroit Lions и New Orleans Saints был перенесен в воскресный ночной слот. [21] В качестве компенсации Fox, поскольку у них было только две другие игры в раннем временном слоте, лига дала им игру Denver Broncos – Minnesota Vikings , которая изначально должна была транслироваться на CBS. Это был первый случай, когда лига перенесла межконференционную телетрансляцию на региональный телеканал домашней команды, транслируемый в воскресенье днём. [22] [23]
14 ноября НФЛ решила оставить матч 12-й недели между « Питтсбург Стилерс» и «Канзас-Сити Чифс» , который должен был состояться 27 ноября, после того, как лига рассмотрела возможность проведения других матчей, в частности, матча AFC East между « Баффало Биллс» и « Нью-Йорк Джетс» и межконференционного матча между « Тампа Бэй Бакканирс» и «Теннесси Тайтенс» , поскольку дивизион AFC West (в который входят «Чифс») был слабым в 2011 году. [24]
7 декабря НФЛ в конечном итоге оставила матч 15-й недели между Baltimore Ravens и San Diego Chargers на 18 декабря, решение было принято на день позже из-за заседаний комитетов НФЛ, которые состоялись накануне. NBC хотела игру между New England Patriots и Denver Broncos, поскольку в ней был матч между Томом Брэди и Тимом Тибоу , двумя игроками с высокой популярностью. Хотя CBS не защищала эту игру, сеть боролась за то, чтобы сохранить игру, так как они проиграли вышеупомянутую игру Broncos-Vikings 13-й недели Fox, лишив сеть более раннего шанса извлечь выгоду из рыночного потенциала Тибоу. [25]
Второй сезон подряд и третий в целом, последняя игра воскресного вечера, которая была смещена, представляла собой соревнование, в котором победитель становился чемпионом дивизиона и зарабатывал себе право на домашнюю игру в плей-офф, а проигравший выбывал. Этот конкретный матч был для NFC East между New York Giants и Dallas Cowboys на стадионе MetLife , матч-реванш трансляции воскресного вечера 14-й недели. [26] Это был первый раз, когда NBC показал обе встречи соперников дивизиона в течение регулярного сезона. [27]
Сезон 2011 года закончился со средним числом зрителей 20,7 млн. человек и стал самой рейтинговой программой телевизионного сезона 2011–12 годов, свергнув American Idol , которая была самой рейтинговой программой в течение восьми сезонов подряд. В результате Sunday Night Football стал первым в истории спортивным телесериалом любого рода, который завершил телевизионный сезон как самое просматриваемое шоу.
Расписание 2012 года, опубликованное 17 апреля, снова поместило игру воскресного вечера ( New Orleans Saints против Denver Broncos ) против игры Мировой серии. Это был третий год подряд, когда игра Мировой серии состязалась с игрой воскресного вечера. В перерыве этой игры NBC News транслировал краткий специальный репортаж о супершторме «Сэнди» , ведущим которого был Брайан Уильямс . Игры воскресного вечера с 18 ноября по 23 декабря (включительно) были «гибкими играми»; они возвращались на воскресенье днем, если возникала более конкурентная борьба.
Единственная гибкая игра сезона, которая заменила запланированную игру, состоялась 23 декабря; игра San Diego Chargers против New York Jets была перенесена на вторую половину дня, а San Francisco 49ers играли в Сиэтле тем же вечером. Это привело к тому, что 49ers играли в два последовательных воскресных вечера, оба на выезде (команда играла в Новой Англии в предыдущее воскресенье вечером, 16 декабря). Часть игры 49ers-Patriots транслировалась на NBC Sports Network и CNBC из-за прямой трансляции NBC News речи Барака Обамы после стрельбы в начальной школе Sandy Hook .
Последний воскресный вечер сезона – 30 декабря 2012 года – также был «гибкой игрой»; слот был оставлен вакантным, когда было опубликовано расписание, как это было практикой последних четырех сезонов. Он был заполнен игрой между Dallas Cowboys и Washington Redskins . Обычно объявляемая во вторник перед днем игры (но иногда и раньше), игра обычно подчеркивала ситуацию, в которой победитель выходил в плей-офф, а проигравший – нет; победитель этой гибкой игры выигрывал свой дивизион, хотя Redskins все равно выходили в плей-офф как команда wild card – даже если команда проигрывала – если проигрывали некоторые другие команды. После первых 15 игр, сыгранных в тот день, в которых Minnesota Vikings обеспечили себе 6-е место посева в NFC победой, игра оказалась игрой «победитель получает все», в которой победитель обеспечивал себе 4-е место посева в NFC, а проигравший выбывал в любом случае. В конечном итоге «Редскинс» победили «Ковбоев» со счетом 28–18 и завоевали свой первый титул чемпиона NFC East с 1999 года .
Расписание 2013 года, опубликованное 18 апреля, снова поместило игру воскресного вечера ( Green Bay Packers против Minnesota Vikings ) против игры Мировой серии. Это был четвертый год подряд, когда игра Мировой серии соревновалась с игрой воскресного вечера. Игры воскресного вечера с 17 ноября по 22 декабря (включительно) были «гибкими играми», они возвращались к воскресному полудню, если возникала более конкурентная борьба. Последний воскресный вечер сезона — 29 декабря 2013 года — также был «гибким игрой»; слот был оставлен вакантным, когда было опубликовано расписание, как это было практикой последних пяти сезонов. Место игры (и, соответственно, ее команды) было определено после завершения большинства игр 16-й недели. Оно было заполнено игрой между Philadelphia Eagles и Dallas Cowboys .
The league announced on November 1, 2013, that the Week 11 Kansas City Chiefs–Denver Broncos game, originally scheduled as CBS's only late 4:05 p.m. Eastern Time single-header game, was flexed into the Sunday Night Football, replacing the originally scheduled Green Bay Packers–New York Giants game. CBS originally selected the Chiefs–Broncos match-up as one of their "protected games" from flex-scheduling, but later allowed the league to flex it so it could be seen by a national audience.[28] This would be one of two cases of a team playing on consecutive Sunday nights due to one of the games being moved into the Sunday night slot (as the Broncos would play the New England Patriots the following Sunday night); the Philadelphia Eagles, the other team to play on consecutive Sunday nights, played at home against the Chicago Bears on December 22 and played in Dallas on December 29.
On December 2, 2013, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported (via Twitter) that the Week 15 rivalry game between the Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals for December 15 would remain in the Sunday night slot, a report later confirmed by the NFL. The league had considered flexing the game out due to the Steelers starting the season 0–4, which included a 20–10 loss to the Bengals on Monday Night Football earlier in the season that was more of a blowout than the final score indicated. Ultimately, it was decided to keep the rematch in the Sunday night slot due to the Steelers making a late playoff push, the team's fanbase that provides high ratings regardless of how well the Steelers are doing, as well as a lack of compelling match-ups for the week, with only two other pairings that did not have a team with a losing record by the flex deadline (Patriots at Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions, the latter being a Monday night game which could not be flexed out of its slot).[29]
On December 10, 2013, the NFL decided to flex the Week 16 Chicago Bears-Philadelphia Eagles matchup into the Sunday night slot, replacing the New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens match-up, which moved to the late afternoon slot on CBS. The move surprised many in the television industry, as all four teams were strong playoff contenders. Some have speculated that since the Patriots had an opportunity to lock up the AFC East before their game in Baltimore (the Patriots were ultimately upset by the Dolphins 24-20),[30] while the other three teams would not be able to clinch playoff spots (nor would they be eliminated) before Week 16, that the Bears-Eagles match-up might be more compelling. There was also speculation that moving the Patriots-Ravens game to the late afternoon slot on CBS would give that network a more compelling match-up in their week to have a doubleheader, as the other two match-ups scheduled to air on CBS in the late afternoon slot featured teams that were having down years (Steelers-Packers) or weren't expected to contend for the playoffs and only appealed to their home markets (Raiders-Chargers);[31] the Patriots-Ravens match-up ultimately received CBS's lead broadcasting crew (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms) and national coverage outside the local markets and blacked out markets of the other late games.[32] John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal reported that the league wanted to keep the total number of games taken from CBS and Fox, dating back to the start of the current television contracts, roughly equal. Otherwise, an obscure rule in the broadcast contracts would have prevented the league from possibly flexing a Week 17 AFC game, originally scheduled to be televised on CBS, to the final Sunday night slot.[33]
No Sunday night Game was originally scheduled for Week 17 of the NFL season, thus allowing the ability to move the most intriguing and playoff-relevant matchup of the week to the Sunday night time slot. The final game of the 2013 NFL regular season was played on December 29, 2013, between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys to determine the NFC East division champion while the loser was eliminated. The Eagles won 24–22, thus advancing to the playoffs, eliminating the Cowboys.
When the 2014 NFL schedule was released on April 23, it placed a Sunday night game (Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints) against a World Series game for the fifth straight year. Starting with this season, NBC was permitted to begin flexing games as soon as Week 5, with the restriction that no more than two games may be flexed between Weeks 5 and 10.[41] The final Sunday night of the season – December 28, 2014 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule was released, as had been the practice of the past six seasons. The game's teams (and, by extension, its location) were announced after most of week 16 games it was filled by the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Country/pop superstar Carrie Underwood continued her role as the performer of the Sunday Night Football opener.
On November 11, 2014, the NFL announced that the November 23 game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants game would air as scheduled, even though the Detroit Lions–New England Patriots game was considered to be a better match-up, citing that the Cowboys are one of the most popular NFL teams playing in the country's largest media market.[42]
For the first time since flexed scheduling went into effect, no Sunday night games were flexed during the season other than Week 17 (where the match-up is usually determined as late as six days prior to the Sunday of Week 17).[43][44]
On December 21, 2014, the NFL announced that the rivalry game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals would be flexed into the Week 17 Sunday Night Football slot, with the winner clinching the AFC North. The league considered flexing the Atlanta Falcons–Carolina Panthers game into the Sunday night slot as it decided the NFC South while the loser was eliminated, but the division being historically weak (it was assured to have a division winner with a losing record by the end of Week 16), combined with the Steelers being a major draw, led to the league's decision. With the Steelers and Bengals clinching a playoff spot in Week 16, it also marked the first time since the NFL scheduled all-intradivisional match-ups in Week 17 in 2010 that a game flexed to the Week 17 slot featured at least one team (in this case both) that was already in the playoffs.[45] It was later reported by Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King that the league chose to flex the Steelers-Bengals game because CBS has not had a game flexed in the Week 17 slot since 2009; the aforementioned Falcons-Panthers match-up was later flexed to CBS as part of the new television contract that allows intraconference match-ups to be flexed between CBS and Fox.[46]
The 2015 schedule was released on April 21, 2015.[47] The defending Super Bowl champions the New England Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers during the NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday, September 10, 2015. Other notable games included the Seattle Seahawks versus the Green Bay Packers (Week 2) and the New England Patriots versus the Indianapolis Colts (Week 6) in a rematch of their respective conference championship games. It also placed a Sunday night game (Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos) against a World Series game for the sixth straight year. The final Sunday night game of the season – January 3, 2016 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule came out as has been the practice over the past seven seasons. The game's teams (and by extension, its location) were announced after most Week 16 games. It was filled by the Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers. The Arizona Cardinals wound up playing on consecutive Sunday nights — at the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10 and then, at home against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11 (Cardinals won both of those games), with the latter being flexed into the Sunday night slot. The December 20 game (Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers) reverted to the afternoon, replaced by the Arizona Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles game. The Minnesota Vikings ended up playing on consecutive Sunday nights beginning in Week 16 at home against the New York Giants and on the road in Week 17 against the Green Bay Packers.
The 2016 schedule was released on April 14, 2016.[48] NBC's first telecast of the season featured a rematch of Super Bowl 50 when the Denver Broncos played host to the Carolina Panthers, the first time the Super Bowl participants faced each other in Week 1 of the subsequent year since 1970. It also placed a Sunday night game (Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys) against a World Series game for the seventh straight year. The Thanksgiving night match-up featured the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Indianapolis Colts, and for the first time since 2011, NBC carried a Christmas Day game as the Broncos traveled to play the Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch of the Week 12 game in Denver that was flexed into that week's Sunday night slot. In addition, NBC carried five late-season Thursday Night Football games in conjunction with NFL Network in a similar arrangement to the one NFLN has with CBS. As before, flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5, with Week 16 excluded because the majority of the schedule was played on Christmas Eve. The final Sunday night game of the season – Sunday, January 1, 2017 – likewise was a flex game; the slot was left vacant when the schedule came out as has been the practice over the past eight seasons. The game's teams (and by extension, its location) were announced after most Week 16 games. It was filled by the Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions.
Also this season, NBC was home to two Super Bowl rematches. As previously mentioned, the Carolina vs. Denver game was a rematch of Super Bowl 50. Then, 9 weeks later on a Sunday night, the Patriots hosted the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, a game that was also seen on NBC, on February 1, 2015.
The Week 5 game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers was placed against the second presidential debate. The debate did not air on NBC due to contractual obligations; however, it was carried by several other channels including sister networks CNBC and MSNBC.
The Week 7 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals ended in a 6–6 tie following a missed field goal from each team in the last minutes of overtime. This became not only the first tie to be featured on Sunday Night Football, but also the first tie not to see a touchdown since 1972, as well as the lowest scoring tie, and the second lowest score in the prime time slot.[49]
After the addition of Thursday Night Football to NBC's rights holdings, the network elected to give Al Michaels time off. Mike Tirico, who left ESPN to become the heir apparent to Michaels at NBC,[50] called select telecasts in his place.[51]
On November 14, 2016, the NFL announced that it had flexed the Chiefs-Broncos game into the Sunday night slot for Week 12, replacing the originally scheduled New England Patriots-New York Jets game, which was moved to the 4:25 p.m. ET slot as the second game of the doubleheader on CBS. With the aforementioned Week 16 matchup between the Broncos and the Chiefs already being scheduled for Christmas night (December 25), that was the second time that NBC has shown both meetings of division rivals during a regular season.
On December 4, 2016, the NFL announced that it had flexed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Dallas Cowboys game into the Sunday night slot for Week 15, replacing the originally scheduled Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game, which was moved to the 1 p.m. ET slot as the early game on CBS. As a result, the Cowboys wound up playing on consecutive Sunday nights — on the road against the New York Giants in Week 14 (which they lost, 10-7) and then at home against the Buccaneers in Week 15 (which they won, 26-20), and as a result, the Cowboys wound up playing back-to-back-to-back games on NBC, beginning with their post-Thanksgiving Thursday Night Game against Minnesota, their scheduled Week 14 game against the Giants, as mentioned, and their Week 15 Game against Tampa Bay, which was also previously mentioned.
On January 15, 2017, NBC was scheduled to carry an AFC divisional playoff game with the Chiefs at home against the Steelers in the afternoon; on January 13, the NFL announced that game would move to primetime on NBC the same day due to an ice storm affecting the Kansas City area which would cause perilous travel for fans if the game went on as regularly scheduled, and thus becoming an unexpected bonus Sunday Night Football broadcast in its regular timeslot. NBC filled the vacated afternoon timeslot with an NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.[52]
The 2017 NFL schedule was released on April 20. NBC's first telecast of the season featured the NFL Kickoff Game between Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs.
In Week 7, a Sunday night game was scheduled between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots in a highly-anticipated rematch of Super Bowl LI thus making 2017 the second consecutive season in which a rematch of the previous year's Super Bowl was played during the regular season. This was completely coincidental, as inter-conference opponents only meet once every four years during the regular season. The Patriots won the rematch by a score of 23–7. The television broadcast was noted for its extensive use of the Skycam for game coverage after fog made it impossible to use other cameras.[53]
It also placed a Sunday night game (Pittsburgh Steelers at Detroit Lions) against a World Series game for the eighth straight year. Both the Lions and Steelers have MLB teams in their respective hometowns, but both struggled to get into the playoffs, especially the Pirates, who missed the playoffs for the second year in a row, and the Tigers, who haven't been to the playoffs since winning the AL Central in 2014.
The Thanksgiving night game featured the New York Giants against the Washington Redskins.
In Week 16, because Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers aired on Saturday, December 23.
For the second time since flex scheduling went into effect, no Sunday night games were flexed during the season—including (for the first time since NBC got the Sunday night package) Week 17.
This was NBC's second year of producing Thursday Night Football with CBS and NFL Network. In addition to airing 5 Thursday night games, NBC along with NFL Network also aired the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Houston Texans on Christmas Day. NBC/NFL Network simulcasts started in Week 10 with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the Arizona Cardinals. The NBC Sports-produced Thursday night games on NFL Network began in Week 2, with the Texans battling the Cincinnati Bengals.
Week 17 on December 31 had a full Sunday schedule of games, with the Sunday night game slot originally left blank as has been done the previous nine seasons. After all of the Week 16 Sunday games were played, the NFL determined that many of the teams with playoff implications would have been affected by the results of other football games, and moving a single game to the Sunday night slot impacted competitive balance (along with the possibility of that game having little to no effect on playoff positioning at all, in addition to negative impacts on rating as a result of the game ending close to the stroke of midnight for the New Year for the Eastern time zone). As a result, the NFL decided to instead set up a schedule for that year's Week 17 where all games would be played at 1 p.m. ET and 4:25 p.m. ET time-slots between CBS and Fox (equivalent to soccer's English Premier League scheduling their last week's matches in the same manner), and no Sunday Night Football game would be played for the first time since 2009.[54]
This season also marked the year that NBC broadcast Super Bowl LII.
In addition, this season featured four Super Bowl rematches on Sunday Night Football, as well as a fifth in the Super Bowl broadcast itself. First, in Week 3, the Oakland Raiders traveled to Washington to face the Washington Redskins, in a rematch of Super Bowl XVIII. Three weeks later, the New York Giants faced the Denver Broncos, in a rematch of Super Bowl XXI. Then, as previously mentioned, a week later, the Atlanta Falcons went to New England and faced the defending champions New England Patriots, in a rematch of Super Bowl LI. Then in Week 12, the Green Bay Packers faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in a rematch of Super Bowl XLV, in what was supposed to be a quarterback battle between Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger, that turned into a quarterback battle between Roethlisberger and Brett Hundley due to Rodgers suffering a broken collarbone in Week 6 that ruled him out for all but one game the rest of the season. And on NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles faced the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX.
The 2018 NFL season schedule was released in April. NBC's first telecast of the season was on September 6, 2018, and featured the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles defeating the Atlanta Falcons.
For the ninth season in a row, the NFL placed a game against a World Series game, with the (New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings), going up against the fifth (and final) game of the Fall Classic, between the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Boston Red Sox.
This was also the first season since 2015, that TNF was not on NBC, as it moved to fellow NFL broadcaster Fox for the next five years. Despite the loss of TNF, NBC still broadcasts the Kickoff Game and the Thanksgiving prime-time games (both on a Thursday night) as they fall under the current NBC contract.
This marked the seventh year in the Sunday night package that a prime-time Thanksgiving game was shown on NBC which featured the Atlanta Falcons against the New Orleans Saints. However, the studio team of Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, and Rodney Harrison called the game in place of Michaels and Collinsworth.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5. If a more compelling matchup arose as the season progressed, the previously scheduled Sunday night matchup could have been swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. This occurred several times during the season:
In addition, SNF scheduled several rematches from last season's playoffs, including the Saints-Vikings game, the Steelers-Jaguars AFC Divisional game (which was eventually flexed out), and the Falcons-Eagles NFC Divisional game.
SNF had a rules analyst for the first time in program history, as the network added former referee Terry McAulay, who retired after the 2017 season. McAulay has worked three Super Bowls in his tenure as an NFL referee. Also that same year, McAulay worked the Notre Dame Football games for NBC, with FNIA studio host, Mike Tirico.
The 2019 schedule was released on April 17. However, on March 25, the NFL announced that, in a break from tradition, the Kickoff Game would not be hosted by the reigning Super Bowl champions and would instead feature the Chicago Bears who hosted the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on September 5, with the game aired on NBC as part of many matchups throughout the league's 100th season celebrating critical games and rivalries through the league's history. The New England Patriots instead hosted the first SNF game of the season against Pittsburgh Steelers during Week 1 on NBC.
For the tenth season in a row the NFL placed a game against a World Series game with the Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs, going up against the fifth game of the Fall Classic between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.
Thanksgiving featured a rematch of the previous season's primetime Thanksgiving game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. It was the eighth time that the Thanksgiving game was part of the SNF package shown on NBC.
For the second consecutive season, the FNIA team of Tirico, Dungy, and Harrison was assigned to work the Thanksgiving primetime game
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling match-up arose as the season progressed. The previously scheduled Sunday Night game could be swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. This occurred several times during the season.
The 2020 schedule was released on May 7. The Kickoff game was on September 10, which featured the Super Bowl LIV Champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans. The Thanksgiving Night game was supposed to feature the Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburgh Steelers; the ninth time that the Thanksgiving game would have been part of the SNF package shown on NBC. A COVID-19 outbreak on the Baltimore Ravens forced the postponement of the game to the following Sunday afternoon, which was then postponed to the following Tuesday night, and then finally to Wednesday afternoon.[58][59] It was shown on NBC as scheduled, but KWQC-TV - the NBC affiliate for the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois - opted not to show the game. Before this occasion, the last Wednesday night game played in the NFL was also a special edition of primetime on NBC - the 2012 Kickoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants that was scheduled as such to avoid a conflict with Obama's renomination speech at that year's Democratic National Convention.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling game arose. The scheduled SNF game could have been swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. The final game of the season, on Sunday, January 3, 2021, likewise was a flex game. The slot, left blank when the schedule came out, was filled by the game between the Washington Football Team and the home team Philadelphia Eagles. A Washington win gave them the NFC East Division title.
Mike Tirico substituted for Al Michaels on a select number of games this season, which started with the September 27 game between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints. Tirico was initially slated to call the Thanksgiving game this season but was assigned instead to call the Week 12 SNF game between the Packers and the Chicago Bears with Tony Dungy and Kathryn Tappen. Tirico was eventually given the assignment to call the rescheduled Ravens–Steelers game with Collinsworth after it was postponed from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon. Tirico has also called NBC's two wild-card playoff games in January.
The aforementioned Packers–Saints game took place while the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals (rescheduled from its normal late May–early June schedule) were ongoing; Dallas (Stars) and Tampa Bay (Lightning) also have NFL teams in the Cowboys and Buccaneers. As NBC was also the rightsholder to National Hockey League games in the U.S., the league was compelled to play Games 4 and 5 (September 25–26) of the finals on consecutive nights to avoid conflict with SNF.
For the season, the customary talking head introduction of the offensive and defensive starters was scrapped due to production limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time in the history of SNF, NBC aired games against an NBA Finals game in back-to-back weeks; this is usually a non-issue as the NBA Finals traditionally take place in June but were moved to the fall due to the NBA suspending their season. This occurred on October 4 with the Eagles playing the 49ers on the same day as Game 3, and on October 11, with the Vikings playing the Seahawks on the same day as Game 6 (the eventual last game of the series). Although Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minnesota all have NBA teams, only the 76ers qualified for the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round. The Los Angeles Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, defeated the Miami Heat in six games, claiming their 17th championship in franchise history, tying the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history.
In Week 7, the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals was flexed into the Sunday night slot from 4:05 p.m., trading places with the scheduled matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders. The shift was not performance-related, as both teams had winning records going into the game. After six Raiders were placed on the COVID-19 list, there were concerns that the game would not be played on Sunday and leave NBC without a broadcast.[60] The Week 7 game marked the eleventh straight year an NFL game aired opposite the World Series.
The Week 15 contest between the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants was moved to Sunday night from a 1 p.m. ET kickoff, replacing the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. It was the first time in the history of SNF that Dallas was flexed out of primetime.[61] Michaels' inability to clear NBC protocol for COVID-19 resulted in Tirico working the broadcast with Collinsworth, while Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Davis took Tirico's place on an NFL Network broadcast the previous day.[62]
The 2021 schedule was released on May 12. The Kickoff game, an NBC staple since 2006, was held on September 9. The defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by Tom Brady, hosted the Dallas Cowboys, led by Dak Prescott, which resulted in a 31–29 win for Tampa Bay. For the 12th straight year, NBC aired a Sunday night game against a World Series game. This year's game featured Prescott and the Cowboys against Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings. Thanksgiving Night featured an interconference showdown between Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills against the New Orleans Saints.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling game arose as the season progressed. The scheduled Sunday Night game could be swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. The last game of the season Sunday, January 9, 2022, likewise was a flex game. The slot was left blank when the schedule came out. It was filled by the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders.
After a one-season hiatus due to COVID-19 production concerns, SNF's trademark "talking heads" introduction for each team's starters was reinstated.
This season marked the year NBC broadcast Super Bowl LVI, the network's fifth Super Bowl under the SNF banner, and the 20th overall. Super Bowl LVI was also scheduled to be the first Super Bowl to be played during an ongoing Olympics event, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The rights to the game were originally assigned to CBS, but on March 13, 2019, CBS agreed to trade it to NBC in exchange for Super Bowl LV.[63] With NBC airing both the Olympics and the Super Bowl on the same weekend, the network announced that Mike Tirico would work both events. Tirico started by flying out to Beijing for the first few days of the Games, then flying back to Los Angeles to host primetime coverage and Super Bowl LVI from SoFi Stadium. Tirico then flew east to Stamford, Connecticut, where NBC Sports' main headquarters are, to host the rest of the Olympics.
As with the previous season, Tirico filled in for Al Michaels in select SNF games, including the Thanksgiving game. Maria Taylor, who joined NBC from ESPN/ABC, became the secondary studio host in games Tirico does play-by-play. In addition, Drew Brees was added as a second analyst, both in the studio and in-game. Kathryn Tappen, NBC's sideline reporter for Notre Dame Football games, filled in for Michele Tafoya on the sidelines during Weeks 12-14.
On November 23, 2021, NFL announced a rivalry game between the 49ers and Seahawks was the only game flex out in favor of a Broncos and Chiefs game due to an injury to Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and after the Seahawks' loss against Steelers in overtime 23–20.
The talking heads introductions were not used in the Saturday AFC Wild Card Playoff game, but it was used in the Sunday Night AFC Wild Card and NFC Divisional Round. The music used was "The Way You Move".
Coincidentally, the first Super Bowl aired on NBC (in a simulcast with CBS), and this season's Super Bowl, were both played in Los Angeles, with Super Bowl I being played at the LA Coliseum, and Super Bowl LVI being played at SoFi Stadium. Super Bowl LVI was also the final game for Tafoya and Michaels.
The 2022 schedule was released on May 12, 2022. The Kickoff game was held on September 8, 2022, with the defending Super Bowl LVI champion Los Angeles Rams hosting the Buffalo Bills, which resulted in a 31–10 win for Buffalo. After six years of waiting to take over full-time, Mike Tirico replaced Al Michaels as lead play-by-play after the latter left for Amazon, while NFL Network's Melissa Stark replaced Michele Tafoya on the sidelines. However, Michaels will be on select SNF and playoff telecasts in an emeritus role and a fill-in for Tirico.
This season marked the first time that SNF did not go head-to-head with a World Series game as Major League Baseball scheduled a travel day for the American League's Houston Astros and the National League's Philadelphia Phillies on October 30, between Games 2 and 3. With Game 3 scheduled for October 31 postponed the following day due to rain in Philadelphia and every subsequent game pushed back by one day, the Week 9 SNF contest featuring the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs would compete with Game 7 of the World Series should the latter game be necessary. However, the seventh game became moot when the Astros won the championship in six games.
In Week 11, the NFL announced a scheduling change that flexed out a rivalry game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers in favor of a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers. As the Chargers had back-to-back games on Sunday night after the Week 10 game against the San Francisco 49ers, this was the first time in 4 years that a team has played back-to-back Sunday Night Football games since the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams.
In Week 14, the NFL announced a scheduling change that flexed out a rivalry game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos in favor of the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. This was the Dolphin's second appearance on SNF after they beat the Steelers in Week 7 and also the second time in 4 weeks that the Chargers have hosted a Sunday Night Football game.
In Week 15, the NFL announced a scheduling change that flexed out a game between the New England Patriots–Las Vegas Raiders game that was flexed out in favor of the New York Giants–Washington Commanders. This marked the Commanders' first appearance as a new name. This also marked the Giants' return to SNF in 2 years.
On Christmas Day, the NFL announced a scheduling change in Week 17. The Los Angeles Rams–Los Angeles Chargers game was flexed out in favor of the Pittsburgh Steelers–Baltimore Ravens game due to the Rams QB injury Matthew Stafford (as the only game for Rams on NBC after they lost against the Bills 31–10). This marks the 11th time a rivalry game between the Steelers and the Ravens will be seeing each other again on SNF (last SNF game in 2020 the Steelers beat the Ravens 19–14). This also marked the Steelers' second appearance after they lost against the Dolphins and got flexed out against the Bengals and the Raven's second appearance after they beat the Bengals.
Thanksgiving Night featured an interconference matchup between Mac Jones and the New England Patriots against Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling game arose as the season progressed. The scheduled SNF game reverted to the afternoon the scheduled game could've been swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. The last game of the season Sunday, January 8, 2023, likewise was a flex game the slot was left blank when the schedule came out. It was filled by the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. (For the first time since SNF began, neither team that participated in the final telecast qualified for the playoffs that season. The Lions, which had been eliminated earlier in the day when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams, beat the Packers, 20-16; the result qualified the Seahawks for the playoffs.)
In addition, there are four Super Bowl rematches on Sunday Night Football for the 2022 season. The first one in Week 3 featured a rematch of Super Bowl XXIV between the 49ers and the Broncos. The second one in Week 4 was a rematch of Super Bowl LV between the Chiefs and the Buccaneers. In Week 10, the 49ers hosted the Chargers in a rematch of Super Bowl XXIX. Finally, Week 13 featured a rematch of Super Bowl V between the Colts and the Cowboys.
Al Michaels' lone appearance on NBC throughout the season came during the 2022 AFC Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, alongside Tony Dungy and Kaylee Hartung.
The 2023 schedule was released on May 11, 2023. The Kickoff Game was held on September 7, 2023, with the defending Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions. which resulted in a 22–21 win for Detroit.
Thanksgiving Night featured a divisional rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. Also during Week 12, Jason Garrett filled in for Collinsworth during a Sunday night game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Los Angeles Chargers.
For the first time, Peacock streamed an exclusive Saturday night game in Week 16, that featured the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers. The main SNF team of Tirico, Collinsworth, and Stark were assigned to call the game. As a result, no Sunday night game was given to NBC on Christmas Eve and was assigned to NFL Network as its Christmas Exclusive Game. Instead, NBC was given a Saturday afternoon game featuring division rivals Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game would be called by the Big Ten Saturday Night team of Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen. Peacock will also stream one Wild Card game. From Week 16 onward, Ahmed Fareed served as the studio host due to Maria Taylor's maternity leave.
For the third time since flexed scheduling went into effect, no Sunday night games were flexed during the season other than Week 18 (where the match-up is usually determined as late as six days before the Sunday of Week 18) and the first time that NBC did not flexed a single Sunday night game when the network did not have the rights to air the Super Bowl under the new rotation.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling game arose as the season progresed. The scheduled SNF game would revert to the afternoon the scheduled game could've been swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. The final game of the season Sunday, January 7, 2024, likewise was a flex game the slot was left blank when the schedule came out. It was filled by the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins.
This is also the first year since NBC took over SNF in 2006 that Al Michaels did not call at least one game for the network. Instead, Eagle, Blackledge, and Tappen would serve as the #2 team during NBC's Wild Card playoff coverage, and were assigned the Cleveland Browns at the Houston Texans. Tirico called two Wild Card games with two different broadcast crews: the Peacock-exclusive Saturday game between the Dolphins and the Chiefs with Garrett and Hartung, and the Sunday night game between the Lions and the Los Angeles Rams with Collinsworth and Stark.
The 2024 schedule was released on May 15, 2024. The Kickoff Game will be held on September 5, 2024, with the defending Super Bowl LVIII champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens, in a rematch of the previous season's AFC Championship Game. The following day, NBC will produce the first NFL game played in South America as the Philadelphia Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil. That game will air exclusively on NBC affiliates in Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. Out of market broadcasts will be exclusively on Peacock, the second exclusive out of market regular season game the streaming service will air live.
For the twelfth time in the package history, NBC will present a game on Thanksgiving Night, with the Miami Dolphins in Green Bay against the Packers.
NBC also gained rights to broadcast an additional Saturday afternoon game in Week 16, which will feature two teams that will also play on Christmas Day. It will be the first time since 1997 that NBC airs Week 16 games on both Saturday and Sunday, as the network retained their Week 16 SNF game that week.
As has been the case since 2014, flexible scheduling rules will go into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game will revert to the afternoon or to either Monday Night Football or Thursday Night Football, if a more compelling game arises as the season progresses. The final night of the season, Sunday January 5, 2025, likewise is a flex game, and the slot will be left blank when the schedule comes out.
NBC will only carry two playoff games this season (one Super Wild Card game and one Divisional game), the least amount of playoff games the network has carried since the 2019-20 playoffs, after Prime Video picked up the rights from Peacock to exclusively stream one Super Wild Card playoff game, and CBS holding the rights to air two of the other Super Wild Card playoff games.
Due to time constraints, the “talking heads” introduction was omitted for the Lions defensive line during Week 1.
Much of NBC's SNF production crew comes from ABC/ESPN, including Fred Gaudelli[64] and Drew Esocoff (who respectively serve as producer and director of the broadcasts), as ESPN moved most of its previous Sunday night crew over to Monday Night Football. Michaels, Madden and Andrea Kremer also came to NBC directly from ABC/ESPN, and Football Night in America's Sterling Sharpe was a member of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown in recent years (calling several Sunday night games for the network in 2005).[65] With regard to using ABC/ESPN talent, NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said, "I was not interested in the quote, unquote vanity of starting anew ... There's not a lot of room for experimentation."[65]
In addition, NBC has the starters for each team introduce themselves on each side of the ball (though the strict "player name/position/playing college" introductions of the past have been relaxed, and now players can list their birthplace or high school in the last part rather than their playing college, or even their college's common nickname, such as Miami (FL)'s "The U"), much as ABC did in the last few years of its run, and the short post-game show (done to allow affiliates to start their late newscasts) follows a similar format to ABC's. As of Week 9 of the 2016 NFL season, this practice was also used on the NBC-produced Thursday Night Football broadcasts on NBC and/or NFL Network.
Michaels and Madden ended each telecast in the 2007 and 2008 NFL seasons by selecting an MVP for that night's game to receive the Horse Trailer award (with a photo of each recipient being affixed to the side of a production truck, also known as a "horse trailer"). This concept originated from Madden's days with CBS, where he invented the similar "Turkey Leg Award" for the Thanksgiving Day game in 1989 (he later took the concept to Fox, then expanded it to every game of the year with the Horse Trailer Award when he joined ABC in 2002). In the 2006 season, the MVP concept was modified slightly, where the game's MVP was called the "Rock Star of the Game" and had his photo placed on a display at the "Top of the Rock" observation deck atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, NBC's New York headquarters, in New York. When Madden retired following Super Bowl XLIII, the Horse Trailer Player of the Game award was discontinued.
The following local TV stations have carried both MNF and SNF during their histories. (Unless otherwise noted, these stations have been NBC affiliates for the entire run of SNF.)
Academy Award winner John Williams composed the instrumental theme music, titled "Wide Receiver,"[66] for Sunday Night Football. For Super Bowl XLIII, NBC commissioned Joel Beckerman[67] of Man Made Music to create new instrumental cues adding techno and rock elements around the main brass melody. These cues replaced the original Williams arrangements full-time at the start of the 2009 season.
In 2006, singer-songwriter Pink reworked the lyrics of the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself for Loving You" into a Sunday Night Football theme song, retitled "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night."[68] Pink also performed the theme song for the 2006 season.[69][70] Several alternative versions were used throughout the season, substituting different lyrics when appropriate (such as "Waiting All Year For Opening Night" (During the Kickoff game of each season), “Waiting All Year for Sunday Night” (for Week 1 SNF games), or "Waiting All Day For A Wild Card Fight").
In 2007, country singer Faith Hill replaced Pink as the singer of the opening theme, and a new arrangement of the Joan Jett song coincided with her debut.[71] The Faith Hill intro, in particular, was not without criticism[72][73][74][75] and parody. The intro was lampooned in the October 9, 2010, episode of Saturday Night Live, with host Jane Lynch as Hill (with Jason Sudeikis as Al Michaels and Bill Hader as Cris Collinsworth).[76][77] In the 30 Rock episode "Season 4", the character of Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) sings what appears to be an allusion to the Faith Hill intro for NBC's fictional Tennis Night in America[78][79] program. In the South Park episode entitled "Faith Hilling", Eric Cartman sings an obvious spoof of Hill's actual Sunday Night Football song. On April 15, 2013, Hill announced that she would no longer sing the intro song for Sunday Night Football.[80]
The use of the reworked Joan Jett song is another similarity to ABC's Monday Night Football coverage. From 1989 to 2011 and again beginning in 2017, Hank Williams Jr. opens MNF with a reworking of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" entitled "All My Rowdy Friends Are Back for Monday Night (Are You Ready for Some Football?)".
On October 7, 2012, The Soul Rebels had a featured performance on Sunday Night Football, performing the show's theme song.[81]
It was announced May 7, 2013, that Carrie Underwood would take over singing the theme song.[82]
A new Carrie Underwood-sung theme known as "Oh, Sunday Night", which takes elements from her 2014 duet hit with Miranda Lambert, "Somethin' Bad", premiered with the opening game of the 2016 season on September 11.[83]
For NBC's coverage of Thursday Night Football in 2016 and 2017, A capella group Pentatonix sang the opening theme song called "Weekend Go." The song is a reworked version of their original song "Sing." NBC also used the TNF main theme music called "Can't Hold Us Down," performed by members of the Broadway orchestra for Hamilton.
In 2018, Underwood, along with songwriters Chris DeStefano and Brett James, wrote and recorded a brand new song for SNF, called "Game On", replacing "Oh, Sunday Night," which had been the opening theme since 2016. In addition, Joel Beckerman, who had orchestrated the main theme since Super Bowl XLIII, reorchestrated the main theme, for the first time since Super Bowl XLVI. The previous orchestration of the SNF theme continues to be heard on air, mostly during in-game promotions for the game being broadcast the next week.
Underwood faced criticism over the song, which led to her, NBC, and the NFL being sued by singer Heidi Merrill for plagiarism. NBC followed this up by reinstating "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" as the opening theme for the first time since 2015. Underwood returned, and in 2019, the open featured Joan Jett, and her band The Blackhearts. The open was shot inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which was the first time that the SNF open was shot inside of an NFL stadium, instead of a soundstage. Underwood later returned to filming in soundstages in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then from 2022 on, due to her residency, Underwood filmed the opening from the Resorts World Las Vegas Theatre.
A similar approach to “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” was made for NBC’s new Big Ten Saturday Night package, as rock band Fall Out Boy performed the theme song, a cover of "Here Comes Saturday Night" by Italian band Giuda. The instrumental version of the song is also heard during the broadcast as the main theme.
The song is at the centerpiece of the opening montage, which has changed several times over the years. Carrie Underwood's music has always played in the background over the official welcome after the opening is completed and the teams take the field.
For the first season, Pink appeared to sing from the top of a skyscraper as a helicopter zoomed down on a city skyline with enlarged players Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tom Brady and the field, the results of computer-generated imagery. A television monitor, which resembles the monitor at Times Square leased at the time by NBC, showed game preview footage and opening credits.
Faith Hill, who replaced Pink as the theme song's performer, sang on a stage while some of the key players in the game and announcers Al Michaels and John Madden arrived in limousines and walk on a red carpet as they head to a simulated theater. The marquee outside the theater showed the logo of then-official NFL communications partner Sprint, which paid a product placement fee, and one of the "bystanders" recorded the red carpet scene on a Sprint camera phone. Access Hollywood co-hosts Shaun Robinson and Tony Potts also appeared in the opening. In addition, some of the lyrics were changed slightly and the musical arrangement tilts toward country more than rock, to reflect the change in singers.
The 2008 opening, which debuted on September 7, takes place in a stadium. Hill performed and danced surrounded by video screens with simulated game action, and the song ended with a computer-generated fireworks display. Once again, a Sprint camera phone was used, this time by a fan. Among the spectators were NFL stars Ray Lewis and Antonio Gates. Again, there were some lyrics changes, among them was the substitution of the lyrics "last one standing better turn out the lights".[84]
A special intro sequence was used for Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. Hill performed with CGI blue neon lights and video screens in the settings of the background and at the end of the video, the Vince Lombardi Trophy entered through pouring water, showing the trophy in front of the city of Tampa (the host city of Super Bowl XLIII).
For 2009, Hill appeared in the intro sequence performed in a closed-studio setting, surrounded by video monitors, neon lights and a message board that displayed the names of the production staff. Sprint returned for more product placement, as a branded cell phone appeared to give an alert that the game was about to start.
Hill was seen in front of a Ford Mustang convertible as the song began, overlooking a bluff; the scene was taped in the Hollywood Hills in California. A number of NFL stars appeared in front of various landmarks throughout the United States, including Peyton Manning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Eli Manning at Times Square, DeSean Jackson at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Larry Fitzgerald in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Drew Brees on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Hill herself drove down a road with some simulated billboards with the opening credits and a product placement ad for Verizon (which replaced Sprint as the league's telecommunications sponsor) and was also seen at the Washington Monument. Some of the lyrics changed yet again; for example, the opening line once again asked, "Alright, Sunday night, where are you?" Hill gathered with the NFL stars on a football field inside a stadium at the end of the video.
In Week 16, the introduction did not air due to the game moving to Tuesday night and time constraints.
There were a few significant changes from the previous year, including Hill (who herself returned for her fifth year as part of the telecast's opening) arriving in a motorcycle. In addition, Verizon returned for more product placement. Most of the scenes, including the NFL stars' appearances in front of various landmarks throughout the U.S. and Hill at the Washington Monument (with the minor difference being her wardrobe), were repeated from 2010, however several new NFL stars appeared, including Adrian Peterson and Brian Urlacher; in the last few seconds of the sequence, all of them gathered on a computer-generated football field. In another notable change, the opening credits were dropped for the season. J. Ivy, a spoken word poet from Chicago who has worked with Kanye West and Jay-Z, also appears during the opening.
Hill performed another special Super Bowl version of the song at the start of the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012. With computer-generated technology, this was filmed in a closed-studio setting, with her walking surrounded by video screens showing clips from past Super Bowl games. A Verizon smartphone (product placement) was seen at the beginning of the video sequence.
Some changes were made to the show's opening for the 2012 season, which included Hill walking through the tunnel towards the stage. She then performed with a rock band in front of a live audience, with video screens in the background. Shortly after the start of the song, guests appeared on the computer-generated video screens each week (such as three of the judges from The Voice for Week 1, the Chicago Fire Department for Week 3 and the girls Goldie Rocky and Shania from The New Normal for Week 5) singing the line, "We want it too!" The live audience used their smartphones to form the Verizon logo. NFL stars were also seen going through the tunnel with moving CG images of city landmarks, players and team logos. Initially, the stars presented were Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), Clay Matthews (Packers), Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens), Patrick Willis (San Francisco 49ers), Jimmy Graham (New Orleans Saints), DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys), Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions), Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals), Jared Allen (Minnesota Vikings), Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots), Darrelle Revis (New York Jets) and Eli Manning (New York Giants). The opening itself was remixed with Nick Mangold (Jets) and LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia Eagles) filling in for Ray Lewis and Darrelle Revis.
Beginning with this season, the opening title sequence was not used at the start of the NBC Sunday Night Football Thanksgiving Special broadcast. This opening was also not used on December 16, 2012, two days after the Sandy Hook shooting.
Carrie Underwood became the performer for the theme song for the 2013 season, replacing Faith Hill. Her intro debuted on September 8, with the theme arrangement itself tilted even more towards country to reflect the change in singers. In this animation sequence, Carrie Underwood performed on stage inside a computer-generated stadium. Verizon also returned for more product placement. Some of the NFL stars appearing in this opening included Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts), Eli Manning (Giants), Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos), Clay Matthews (Packers) and J. J. Watt (Houston Texans). The animation ended with the NBC Sunday Night Football logo written in laser lighting.
Beginning with this season, the opening was not used for any and all playoff games aired on NBC with the exception of the Super Bowl.
Underwood continued her role as Sunday Night Football's show opener, which debuted on September 7. Once again, Verizon returned to provide product placement. Some of the NFL stars that were represented in the opening were Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers), Luke Kuechly (Carolina Panthers), DeMarcus Ware (Broncos), Clay Matthews (Packers), Brandon Marshall (Chicago Bears), Jimmy Graham (Saints), LeSean McCoy (Eagles) and Colin Kaepernick (49ers). This time, she was seen performing on a computer-generated stage. In another major tweak, the lyrics toward the end of the song changed, with the commentators' first names (Al and Cris) being replaced with "come on along with the best on TV."
Underwood performed a special Super Bowl version of the song at the start of the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015. In this version, she is performing with a rock band in concert with video screens showing scenes from past Super Bowl games inside a CGI rendering of University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of Super Bowl XLIX. The Patriots' Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Darrelle Revis, as well as the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson and Kam Chancellor, appeared in the opening. Verizon provided product placement.
Underwood returned for her third year as part of the show's opening on September 13. Once again, she was seen performing on a computer-generated stage. Product placement was once again provided by Verizon, which introduced its newest company logo that September.
Underwood returned for her fourth season on September 11, with "Oh, Sunday Night" replacing "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night" as the new intro for SNF. In this open, Underwood was seen at the stadium entrance in front of a bus. Upon entering the stadium, she goes into the SNF broadcast booth with Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (color). She was then seen going down the steps before entering the locker room with the players and then walking past a row of cheerleaders. Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter) also appears in the open, as does product placement by Verizon. As Underwood left the computer-generated stadium at the end of the open, the SNF logo was lit up between the two computer-generated pyrotechnics displays and finally, the sliding doors seen above the logo slid open while going into a live shot.
Underwood returned for her fifth season on September 10. The opening sequence began with a skyline and a Verizon logo (product placement) on the lower left of the screen. Underwood was seen wearing a red dress while walking down the street before performing on stage. Various NFL stars also appeared in the opening.
Rather than singing a special version of "Oh Sunday Night", done in previous years with "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night", Underwood recorded, and performed "The Champion" featuring rapper Ludacris as the opening sequence to Super Bowl LII, with product placement by Verizon.[85]
Underwood returned for her sixth season on September 9. "Game On" replaced "Oh Sunday Night" as the opening theme. In the open, she was joined by several NFL stars before the cheerleaders joined her. The open ended with Underwood on the rooftop of a skyscraper. In another significant change, the logo of Pepsi (the official soft drink of the NFL, which paid a product placement fee) was shown. It replaced Verizon as the product placement sponsor in the SNF open.[86] Although the Kickoff Game had no intro, NBC used a snippet of Underwood's song The Champion, to commemorate the Eagles' Super Bowl Championship, which then led into the championship banner unveiling, the singing of "Fly, Eagles Fly", and the introduction of the Super Bowl Champion Eagles, all led by Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins.
As in recent years, the intro was not seen before the Thanksgiving game. However, NBC created a special intro featuring chef Emeril Lagasse and New Orleans-born jazz musician Trombone Shorty.
Underwood returned for her seventh season on September 8, when her new intro for SNF debuted during Week 1. As previously mentioned, she teamed with rock music legend Joan Jett for the return of the original SNF opening theme song, "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night." Product placement was once again provided by Pepsi and the opening sequence was filmed inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, making this the first time the open was filmed inside an actual NFL stadium.
As in recent years, the intro was not seen before the Thanksgiving game. However, like the year before, NBC created a special intro for the game. This year, the intro featured Atlanta-based country group Zac Brown Band performing a rewritten version of their song Chicken Fried.
Underwood returned for her eighth season on September 13. This season's intro was very unique, as due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an intro could not be filmed. Instead, the intro was filmed remotely, with players and fans making cameos from home.
NBC had also planned to air a special intro for the Thanksgiving game for the third straight year, this year, starring Milo Ventimiglia from NBC's hit show This is Us. However, because the game was postponed to the Wednesday afternoon after Thanksgiving, the intro was scrapped altogether.
Underwood returned for her ninth season on September 12. This season's intro was featured with NFL players along with reporters, fans tailgating in the parking lot and some of SNF's finest moments. Also, Uber Eats replaced Pepsi as the sponsor of the Sunday Night Football open. The intro ends with a computer-generated fireworks display, similar to that of 2008.
The Thanksgiving Night intro returned for 2021. This year featured New Orleans native Branford Marsalis narrating a special video essay.
In lieu of a special recording of "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night", as the case in previous Super Bowl broadcasts, NBC's opening started with an impromptu commercial for Visit California and features movie clips of famous football movies, clips from previous Super Bowl games and cameo appearances by Hollywood actors and Super Bowl luminaries, starring actress Halle Berry. Underwood did make a cameo in the commercial, singing a parody of her hit song "Before He Cheats" related to The Blind Side (acting as if it was a musical), with the title line being changed to "Maybe next time he'll beg before he calls a sneak".
A snippet of Ludacris's verse in Underwood's song, The Champion, was used for the first half highlights and "The Buzz" segment during the broadcast prior to the second half kickoff.
Underwood returned for her 10th season on September 11. This season's intro underwent an overhaul to match the new logo and package introduced for SNF. The intro starts with a computer-generated fireworks display before panning down towards a concert venue where Underwood performs, cutting between the performance and clips of the teams. Aspects of previous SNF intros made their return, with some melodies from previous years being reintroduced. The intro ends with a pan up towards the fireworks display with the new SNF logo.
Minnesota Vikings legend John Randle starred in the special intro on Thanksgiving Night before his Vikings hosted the New England Patriots.
Underwood returned for her 11th season on September 10. For this season, an updated version of "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" is used, with the intro consisting of a concert performance interspersed with augmented reality highlights displayed on a halo scoreboard similar to that of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood as well as a yet unnamed surprise element.[87] Geico would replace Uber Eats as the sponsor for the show open.
The opening was not used for the Christmas games.
The graphics, logos and scoreboard for NBC's Sunday Night Football telecasts were designed by Troika Design Group, along with the city skyline graphics used in the introductions to both Football Night in America and the games proper.[88] It was effectively the first time the network used permanent time/score boxes throughout any of their sports broadcasts outside of Olympic Games broadcasts, where permanent scoring displays were compulsory; prior to 2006, the network continued the previous mode of presenting the scores on-screen for a short time every few minutes or so, a method common in American sports broadcasting until Fox introduced constant scoring displays in 1994.
NBC's game telecasts use the same type of horizontal bottom-screen scoreboard that Monday Night Football used in the 2005 NFL season (and was subsequently used by ABC Sports until its rebranding in August 2006). After its debut, the graphics also began to be phased in across other NBC Sports properties, including its coverage of Notre Dame football and the annual Bayou Classic game (which uses exactly the same graphics used on SNF broadcasts), National Hockey League coverage (which uses the SNF graphics but with a scoreboard on the top), and tennis and golf (which use a modified version influenced by the look, but with bolder text for readability purposes). NBC's Olympics coverage continues to use a different package mixed between NBC's graphics and those of the IOC's world feed. The NBC football graphics are also used, in some form or another, on certain locally produced preseason telecasts carried by NBC owned-and-operated stations and affiliates that serve as flagship outlets for NFL teams (such as New York Giants preseason games on WNBC, and the Minnesota Vikings on KARE-TV).
NBC's bottom-line scoring banner underwent a significant revamp for the 2009 season, although it debuted during the network's Super Bowl XLIII coverage on February 1, 2009. The changes included presenting downs and yardage in a feather derived from NBC's iconic peacock logo in the colors of the team currently on offense. In addition, when a team scores a touchdown, the banner will open, the team's logo and initials will slide to the left of the banner and "TOUCHDOWN" is displayed in the remainder of the banner. After a few moments, the banner will show the drive information. Then the banner returns to normal and show the change in the team's score. Additionally (beginning with Week 9), timeout indicators were added below each team's respective scores. For the 2010 season, the timeout indicators were changed to three white trapezoids below the team abbreviations, and the play clock was moved from above the team in possession of the football to above the game clock (for the final two minutes of regulation and if necessary, overtime). The down markers also changed in 2010, which is now featuring the team logo next to the down marker.
On January 2, 2012, during the NHL Winter Classic (with a sneak two days before during a Notre Dame hockey game on Versus), the graphics of all of NBC Sports' productions were updated to a new package intended to unify the graphical image between both the network and the rebranded NBC Sports Network, which relaunched that same day. Subsequently, on Wild Card Saturday (January 7), the network's NFL presentation was changed to the new graphical styling to match the style and layout of the then-recently christened NBC Sports Network. Most of the banner's styling remains the same, but with a cleaner and larger font for readability and a more neutral NBC logo to the left rather than the "aggressive peacock" used since 2006. Elements such as team and individual player stats take on team colors (main color as the background, secondary color as the accent), and the down/yardage/possession graphic also takes on team coloring, with neutral team comparison stats and other elements having a gold/blue/black coloring. Additionally, the play clock appeared directly above the game clock throughout the entire game.
Beginning with the 2014 Hall of Fame Game on August 3, 2014, the play clock was moved to the right side, next to the down/yardage graphic, of the bottom-screen score banner, which itself remained in the 4:3 safe area. In addition, beginning with the NFL Kickoff Special on September 4, 2014, an electronic green-colored line-of-scrimmage marker was added to the virtual on-field graphic. NBC's Sunday Night Football was also the last of the five NFL broadcast partners to switch to a full 16:9 letterbox presentation on its 4:3 standard-definition feed, a downscaled version of the HD feed's native 16:9 format (utilizing the Active Format Description #10 flag), following Fox (2010), ESPN's Monday Night Football (2011), NFL Network's Thursday Night Football (2012) and CBS (2013). Some of the graphics were also re-positioned.
On January 3, 2015, during the Wild Card playoffs, Sunday Night Football introduced a refresh of NBC Sports' graphics that was first launched on January 1, carrying a brighter visual appearance.[89] A dedicated graphics package was introduced specifically for NBC-produced Thursday Night Football games during its tenure as a rightsholder.
NBC debuted a new graphics package specifically for Sunday Night Football during Super Bowl LII, began to be used full-time 2018 season. Producer Fred Gaudelli stated that the network wanted SNF to have a more distinctive presentation to set them apart from other NBC Sports telecasts.[90][91] For the 2018 season, NBC also debuted a new on-air feature known as the "green zone"; on third and fourth downs, the distance from the line of scrimmage to the first down line is digitally shaded on the field to be a darker shade of green. The feature received mixed reviews from critics and viewers, who considered it distracting and redundant to the existing yellow first down line that had historically been a standard feature of U.S. football telecasts. The Ringer's Rodger Sherman considered it "the ultimate conclusion of graphics creep". Gaudelli stated that the green zone was developed for when Skycam is used as a primary camera angle, but it was decided to use the effect on all games.[92][93]
NBC debuted a new on-air graphics package for Sunday Night Football during Super Bowl LVI, including a "pod"-like scoreboard in the center of the screen (reminiscent of one introduced by Fox in 2020, and one initially used by Monday Night Football upon its move to ESPN) anchored by a circular hub containing the game clock, and capable of retracting itself to the side of the screen to fit statistical graphics.[94] For the first time, NBC also introduced a new logo for Sunday Night Football and its associated programs, replacing the previous pentagon-shaped "shield" logo used since its premiere with a more minimalistic wordmark better-suited for multi-platform usage.[95] The new logo also soft launched a refresh of the network's long-time peacock logo, whose official rollout began in earnest in late-December 2022.[96]
A variant of these graphics with a more rectangular appearance were adopted by NBC's college football broadcasts (which had continued to use the 2015 graphics since) in 2023, coinciding with the debut of its new Big Ten Saturday Night broadcasts.[97]
For Spanish broadcasts on Telemundo, the network's stylized "T" logo was used instead of its sister network's peacock logo.
In Canada, Sunday Night Football is aired by TSN, as well as CTV 2 for simsub purposes since the 2017 season under the NFL's current media rights. It is also aired in the UK by Sky Sports, corporate sibling to NBC since Comcast's acquisition of Sky, and in Australia by 7mate.
In Brazil, SNF is broadcast on ESPN Brasil, with the original English audio available as a separate feed via second audio program. Brazilian Portuguese audio is hosted by Fernando Nardini on play-by-play and Paulo Antunes as color commentator; Ari Aguiar/Renan do Couto fills in occasionally as play-by-play and Antony Curti as color commentator.
The Sunday Night Football telecasts are also aired in Latin America by ESPN Latin America, with Álvaro Martín as play-by-play announcer and Raúl Allegre providing color commentary.
In the Philippines, Sunday Night Football, alongside other primetime games, is aired by Premier Sports beginning with the 2021 season.
Through the first four weeks of the 2010 NFL season, Sunday Night Football had an average total viewership of 22.9 million viewers, the most for the first four weeks of a prime time NFL package in 14 years (since ABC earned a 24.0 million average viewership in 1996 on four broadcasts of Monday Night Football).[102][103]
The Washington Redskins–Dallas Cowboys game on December 30, 2012, was the highest-rated Sunday Night Football broadcast ever, earning 30.426 million viewers (22.074 million during the period from 8:31 to 11:25 p.m. Eastern Time) and a household rating of 12.7.[104][105] This also made it the most watched regular-season primetime game in 16 years, since a November 18, 1996 Monday Night Football game on ABC between the Green Bay Packers and the Cowboys (which was watched by 31.5 million viewers).[106]
For the 2013 season, Sunday Night Football averaged 21.9 million viewers (for 15 broadcasts, as well as the Turkey Bowl) in 2013, up 5% versus its viewership in 2012, and an increase of 3% with a 12.9 household rating. In terms of sheer reach, this marked the highest average viewership for an NFL prime time package since 1996. Its highest rated game telecast was the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts on October 20, 2013, which was watched by 26.9 million viewers.[107]
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