Contract
NBC's current contract includes the season-opening Thursday night NFL Kickoff Game and two Saturday games in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The network aired, or will air, two Super Bowl games during the six years of the deal, following the 2008 (Super Bowl XLIII) and 2011 (Super Bowl XLVI) seasons, and the Pro Bowl games in the years NBC airs the Super Bowl. Beginning with an extended contract in 2012, NBC will also air a primetime Thanksgiving game (which had previously been part of NFL Network's Thursday Night Football package), one divisional playoff game in lieu of a Wild Card game in the postseason, and three more Super Bowls beginning in 2015 with Super Bowl XLIX, 2018 for Super Bowl LII, and 2021 for Super Bowl LV. The new contracts will run until 2022. However, the annual Pro Bowl is not included in the new deal as exclusive rights will revert to ESPN in 2015. Note: NBC Will Carry The Pro Bowl On Sunday January 26, 2014
NBC is the current home of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which begins the NFL's preseason each August. However, the 2007 game aired on the NFL Network because the league had planned to stage the China Bowl just a few days later, to be televised by NBC as a tie-in to its coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in that country. The China Bowl was postponed indefinitely. Normally, there are two other preseason telecasts on NBC; however, because of the Beijing Olympics, only two were shown in 2008. Two preseason games (the Hall of Fame game and one other match-up, depending on other NBC Sports commitments), and the Thursday night season opener will be retained in the new contract beginning in 2014.
During Wild Card Saturday, Tom Hammond (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (color commentator) called the afternoon game for NBC from 2007 to 2009, while Al Michaels and John Madden handled the evening game. In addition, due to Madden's fear of flying, Collinsworth substituted for Madden on October 19, 2008 for the game featuring the Seattle Seahawks at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This was due to Madden not wanting to make back-to-back-to-back cross-country trips via bus (the October 5 game was in Jacksonville and the October 12 game was in San Diego). Collinsworth was commentator for the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii for Madden following Super Bowl XLIII, and (in his capacity as Michaels' broadcast partner) will presumably do so again before Super Bowl XLVI. For the 2009–10 playoffs, Hammond teamed with Joe Gibbs and Joe Theismann to call the early Wild Card game, while Michaels and Collinsworth called the late game. For the 2010–11 playoffs, Hammond and Mike Mayock called the early Wild Card game, while Michaels and Collinsworth called the late game. For the 2011–12 playoffs, Hammond and Mayock again called the early game while Michaels and Collinsworth called the late game. For the 2012–13 playoffs Dan Hicks and Mike Mayock called the early game while Michaels and Collinsworth called the late game once again.
Read more about this topic: NBC Sunday Night Football
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