NBCUniversal Going The Full 100 Yards For NFL 100 Kickoff With Stars, Shows
By Barry Janoff
September 4, 2019: Rock ’n’ Roll badass Joan Jett and Hollywood self-proclaimed badass Betty “B-Dog” White are both part of NBCUniversal’s run-up to the 2019 NFL season.
For NBCU and NBC Sports, that’s all good.
NBCUniversal said it would prepare for NBC Sports’ coverage of NFL Kickoff 2019 with “unmatched participation by its sports, news, entertainment and theme park assets, utilizing some 30 personalities across its portfolio of programing,” in anticipation of the Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 5.
Three days later, NBC Sports begins its 14th season of Sunday Night Football — “America’s No. 1 primetime television show for a record eight consecutive years,” per NBC — when Super Bowl LIII champion New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Celebrities and NBCU personalities participating in the Kickoff event include Kelly Clarkson — who is joined by rock icon Joan Jett in the NBC Sunday Night Football opener — Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, John Legend, Mario Lopez, Dylan Dreyer and Jim Cramer.
In addition, 97-year-old Betty White hypes NFL Kickoff 2019 in a new promotional video airing across NBCUniversal network. (“There’s only one thing more badass than this year’s kickoff . . . and you’re looking at her!”)
And Brett Favre will hit the parking lot of Soldier Field with Bill Swerski’s Superfans from "Saturday Night Live" to discuss the history of the Packers and Da Bears rivalry throughout the years.
Concurrently, NBC Sports is launching a weekly NFL free-to-play prediction game, "Sunday Night 7", beginning with this week’s Sunday Night Football opener, with “$2 million in guaranteed cash prizes over the course of the regular season and NBC NFL playoff games."
"Sunday Night 7" seven-question contests focus on each upcoming NBC "Sunday Night Football" game (i.e. “Which team’s quarterback will have more yards and touchdowns?”) Sunday Night 7 is available for download on the NBC Sports Predictor app (in the App Store and Google Play Store) and at NBCSports.com/Predictor. (Details here.)
Among the NBCU properties and programs supporting NFL Kickoff 2019 are are Today, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Nightly News with Lester Holt, Access, CNBC’s Mad Money, E! News, Telemundo, Golf Channel and NBC Sports Radio.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will air five special post-Sunday Night Football telecasts, beginning Sept. 8.
Today will bring back the segment “Today Food Loves Football,” featuring chefs from Chicago and Wisconsin as they create and share some of the most famous foods in their regions.
All day Thursday, NBC Sports will have NFL Kickoff branding on more than 20 Web sites of networks/brands across NBCU, including NBCSports.com, GolfChannel.com, Today.com and NBCNews.com.
And NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football bus returns this season to travel the country, beginning in Chicago for NFL Kickoff 2019, and visiting the host cities of each Sunday Night Football game.
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