From Kickoff To Super Bowl, NBC Will Bookend NFL Season

NBC’s schedule opens with a blockbuster kickoff weekend featuring four 2016 playoff teams. NBC's season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 7 and ends with the crowning of the NFL champions at Super Bowl LII Feb. 4.

NBC, home to primetime television’s top two shows in Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football, will kick off the 2017 NFL season on Thursday night Sept. 7, and crown the Super Bowl LII champion on Feb. 4, highlighting a campaign which features a combined 28 regular season and postseason games on NBC – the most ever by an NFL broadcast primetime TV partner.

NBC’s schedule opens with a blockbuster Kickoff Weekend featuring four 2016 playoff teams. First, in NFL Kickoff 2017 on Thursday, Sept. 7, Super Bowl LI MVP Tom Brady and the champion New England Patriots host the AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

In the Sept. 10 opener of Sunday Night Football – America’s No. 1 primetime television show for a record six consecutive years – 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year Dak Prescott, 2016 NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott, and the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys host two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, star receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., and the New York Giants.

In Week 2, Sunday Night Football travels to Atlanta to open the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with an NFC Championship Game rematch, as 2016 NFL MVP Matt Ryan and the Falcons host two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. This will be the fifth stadium to debut on NBC’s SNF in the last 10 years (Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008, AT&T Stadium in 2009, Levi’s Stadium in 2014, U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016).

Sunday Night Football is also home to a rematch of the only Super Bowl game to go to overtime, as the Patriots host the Falcons in Week 7 (Oct. 22). New England defeated Atlanta 34-28 in Super Bowl LI this past February 5.

Beginning on Sunday, Nov. 5 with the Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins game, NBC will present an unprecedented 15 national games in 51 days (14 primetime matchups plus a late afternoon Christmas game) – running parallel to the November-December holiday season.

Later that week on Nov. 9, NBC kicks off its Thursday Night Football slate as Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals host Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks in a matchup of the past two NFC West champions. The Nov. 9 matchup is the start of NBC’s six consecutive Thursdays with primetime NFL games, and is followed by Titans-Steelers on Nov. 16; the New York Giants visiting Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving night; the Dallas Cowboys hosting Washington on Nov. 30; Saints-Falcons on Dec. 7; and Broncos-Colts on Dec. 14.

Following the 2017 NFL regular season, NBC will broadcast a Wild Card Playoff game on the January 6-7 weekend, a Divisional Playoff game on the weekend of January 13-14, and Super Bowl LII from U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, February 4 in Minneapolis, Minn.

NBC’s last Super Bowl broadcast, the Patriots’ thrilling victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, is the most-watched show in U.S. television history (114.4 million viewers).

Highlights of NBC’s 2017 Sunday Night Football & Thursday Night Football schedules

• 24 primetime regular-season games, including 17 SNF games, the NFL’s opening game of the season NFL Kickoff 2017, NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game, and five Thursday night games; plus a 25th national game on Christmas afternoon;

• Every 2016 playoff team makes an appearance on Sunday Night Football; 23 of NBC’s 24 scheduled regular-season games (Week 17 SNF game is TBD) involve at least one playoff team from last season; eight of SNF’s 18 scheduled games feature two playoff teams;

• Five NBC games for the Steelers, four for the Cowboys, and three apiece for Patriots, Falcons, Packers, Giants, Redskins, Seahawks, and Raiders; SNF returns to Miami for the first time since 2010;

• High-profile NFC East matchups continue on NBC: Giants-Cowboys (Sun., Sept. 10) on SNF for the eighth time in seven seasons; Eagles-Cowboys (Sun., Nov. 19) on SNF for the ninth consecutive season – the longest streak of matchups on the broadcast primetime package in NFL history (ABC 1970-2005; NBC 2006-present); Giants-Redskins (Thurs., Nov. 23) in the first NFL Thanksgiving Game ever hosted by Washington; and Redskins-Cowboys on Thursday Night Football (Nov. 30);

• Two games on each of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday weekends – Giants-Redskins on Thanksgiving night, followed by Packers-Steelers on SNF on Nov. 26; and Vikings-Packers in primetime on Sat., Dec. 23, followed by Steelers-Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET on Christmas Day.

NBC TO BROADCAST 30 NFL GAMES IN 2017 SEASON: NBC begins its 12th consecutive season as the primetime broadcast home of the NFL. In the 2017 season, NBC will broadcast 30 NFL games — 19 regular-season games as part of its Sunday Night Football package (17 regular-season SNF games, NFL Kickoff 2017, and the annual Thanksgiving night game), five primetime regular-season Thursday games and a late afternoon Christmas Day game as part of its Thursday Night Football package, two NFL Playoff games, Super Bowl LII, and two primetime preseason games. NBC Sports will also produce three games to be televised exclusively on NFL Network.

The sixth NBC/NFL Network game – scheduled at the NFL’s discretion – is a part of NBC’s two-year TNF agreement. Last year, this game was televised exclusively on NFL Network.

NBCSPORTS.COM & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM ALL NBC NFL GAMES: NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream all NBC games to desktops, tablets, and connected TVs via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcasts. Powered by Playmaker Media, the NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, and Xbox. (NOTE: NBC Sports does not have NFL live streaming rights to mobile devices.)

SNF IS NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION, WITH NBC/NFLN TNF RANKING NO. 2: The 2016 season of NBC’s Sunday Night Football was a historic one, as America’s favorite primetime show is pacing to finish as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for a record sixth consecutive year – tying American Idol for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950). Sunday Night Football also is on pace to rank No. 1 among Adults 18-49 for the seventh consecutive full TV season (September-May, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company). In addition, NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football ranks as primetime TV’s No. 2 show in average viewers and household rating, and No. 3 among Adults 18-49.

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