The NFL and NBCUniversal said the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Buffalo Bills-Los Angeles Chargers game streaming exclusively on Peacock will be commercial-free — a first for an NFL game.

The reduced ad load in the December 23 game — NBCU said it’s 40% lower than normal — is being made possible by presenting sponsors Capital One, Hyundai and Walmart.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, there will be an acknowledgement that there will be no more commercials thanks to the three sponsors.

“We are proud to work with our partners at the NFL to present this first-of-its kind experience,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said. “NBC Sports’s best-in-class NFL production, Peacock’s fan-friendly viewer experience and this innovative advertising model will allow NFL fans an exciting new way to watch the game’s conclusion.”

Instead of commercials, the broadcast will feature content takeovers and game features that integrate relevant Football Night in America studio updates and analysis, brought to viewers by the sponsors.

A Walmart ad during the game produced by NBCU’s Creative Partnerships team will feature NBC Sports analysts Chris Simms and Devin McCourty relying on Walmart for last-minute gifts.

The game will also feature NBCU’s first shoppable moment during an NFL telecast, presented by Walmart. The moment will feature a QR code that takes viewers to Walmart’s holiday hub.

“The power of live sports is more prevalent than ever, and at NBCUniversal, we not only have the scale of our broadcast platform, but we now can reach an entirely new audience through Peacock,” Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, said. “With this one-of-a-kind sponsorship environment attached to our first-ever exclusive Peacock NFL game, we are able to connect an untapped set of consumers to our marketers, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our partners at the NFL for trusting us to creatively launch this groundbreaking format."

NBC’s October 8 Sunday Night Football telecast was the most-watched sports event for the second week in a row, while Major League Baseball playoff telecasts topped non-football viewership.

NBC’s telecast of the San Francisco 49ers' blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys  averaged 24.28 million viewers for the week of October 2-8, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch. Overall, NFL games secured the top five most-watched sports events for the week. 

ABC’s October 7 Oklahoma Sooners-Texas Longhorns telecast drew 7.30 million viewers to finish as the top-rated college football game. 

Baseball postseason game telecasts secured the top four slots for non-football audiences, led by TBS’s October 7 telecast of the Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves National League Divisional Series opening game. 

The Super Bowl champ Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Detroit Lions September 7, starting the 2023 NFL season. The game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET and is on NBC. 

The Chiefs went 14-3 in the regular season last year before offing the Eagles, 38-35, for a comeback win in the Super Bowl. The Lions went 9-8. 

The September 7 game is at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. 

The telecast is under NBC’s Sunday Night Football rubric, despite it happening on a Thursday. The game streams on Peacock. Universo has the Spanish-language broadcast.  

On Sunday, September 10, the New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. 

Mike Tirico handles play-by-play for Sunday Night Football. Cris Collinsworth is in the booth too, with Melissa Stark the sideline reporter and Terry McAulay the rules analyst. 

Carrie Underwood is featured in the Sunday Night Football open, which showcases an updated rendition of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” and a concert performance interspersed with highlights. 

The list of live TV sports events airing during the first full weekend of January starts on the football field with the NFL’s final week of the 2022-23 regular season.

Week 18 of the NFL season kicks off Saturday with two games with playoff implications airing on both ABC and ESPN: the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans battling the Jacksonville Jaguars.

On Sunday CBS and Fox will offer regional game coverage, with NBC airing its final Sunday Night Football telecast of the regular season featuring a matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers.

On the links, NBC will air the final rounds of the PGA Tournament of Champions on Saturday and Sunday, while also airing the high school football All-American Bowl on Saturday.

This weekend’s men’s college basketball schedule includes Sunday games featuring top-ranked Purdue facing Penn State on the Big Ten Network and second-ranked Houston traveling to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats on ESPN.

Saturday’s hoops action features third-ranked Kansas against West Virginia on the Big Ten Network, fourth-ranked UConn battling Creighton on Fox, and fifth-ranked Arizona taking on Washington State on ESPN Plus. Other games include No. 6 Texas-Oklahoma State (Fox), No.7 Alabama-Kentucky (ESPN), and No. 8 Tennessee-South Carolina (SEC Network).

In the ring, Showtime on Saturday will distribute the first pay-per-view boxing event of 2023 when lightweight champion Gervonta Davis steps into the ring to face challenger Hector Luis Garcia.■ 

This weekend's busy, live TV sports lineup starts on the soccer field with World Cup quarterfinals round action.

Fox on Saturday will televise live World Cup games between Morocco and Portugal, along with England versus France. The winners from the two games will meet in a December 14 semifinal matchup, with that winner qualifying for the World Cup finals against the winner of the December 13 semifinal game.

In the boxing ring, welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Saturday will step into the ring against David Avanesyan in a pay-per-view fight. Also on PPV, retired eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao will fight an exhibition bout against martial arts fighter DK Yoo.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will stream the Teofimo Lopez-Sandor Martin fight, while DAZN will carry the Josh Warrington-Luis Alberto Lopez featherweight championship bout.

Also: Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford Fights Round Out 2022 PPV Boxing Card

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute via PPV the UFC 282 mixed martial arts fight card featuring a main event light heavyweight championship bout between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.

ABC will air a Saturday primetime matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals won by the Warriors.

On the links, TNT on Saturday will air its golf exhibition event The Match, featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy facing Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. NBC and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA’s QBE Shootout event.

Also: TNT Turns Primetime Spotlight on 'The Match' Golf Event

Week 14 of the NFL season picks up Sunday with regional action on CBS and Fox, followed by NBC’s primetime Sunday Night Football contest between the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. ■

The launch of the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament leads the lineup of live sports offerings hitting the small screen this weekend.  

Fox will offer English-language coverage of the World Cup tournament from Qatar, beginning Sunday with the Qatar-Ecuador matchup airing at 11 am (ET). Telemundo and streaming service Peacock will offer live Spanish-language feeds of the game. 

Also: Fox Sports’s World Cup Coverage Playing on Broadcast and Cable Field

On the gridiron, college football is inching closer to securing its four playoff teams going into week 12 of the season. Top-ranked Georgia takes on Kentucky on CBS, second-ranked Ohio State faces Maryland on ABC and third-ranked Michigan battles Illinois on ABC. Fourth-ranked TCU travels to Texas to take on Baylor on Fox and fifth-ranked Tennessee plays South Carolina on ESPN. 

Other games include No. 6 LSU-UAB (ESPN2), No. 7 USC-UCLA (Fox), No. 8 Alabama-Austin Peay (ESPN Plus), No. 9 Clemson-Miami (Fla) (ESPN), and No. 10 Utah-No. 12 Oregon (ESPN).

In the squared ring, DAZN will stream the Jaime Munguia-Gonzalo Gaston Coria middleweight fight, while ESPN Plus will stream the Zach Parker-John Ryder interim super middleweight title fight. ESPN Plus will also offer on Saturday a UFC Fight Night card featuring the Derrick Lewis-Serghei Spivac heavyweight main event mixed martial arts bout. 

Week 11 of the NFL season features Sunday afternoon regional games on Fox and CBS, as well as NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast between the Kansas City Chiefs and division rival Los Angeles Chargers.■  

The Veteran’s Day holiday weekend lineup of live TV sports events begins on the football field as the NFL travels to Germany on Sunday for a morning matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers on NFL Network. 

Also on Sunday, CBS and Fox will offer regional NFL afternoon telecasts, followed by NBC's Sunday Night Football contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49’ers.

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute the UFC 281 pay-per-view fight card on Saturday, headlined by the Israel Adesanya-Alex Pereira middleweight championship fight. 

Also on Saturday via PPV is the return of retired undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather, as he steps into the ring to fight an afternoon exhibition bout against MMA fighter Deji Olatunji. DAZN on Saturday will deliver a fight card featuring a main event junior welterweight bout between Montana Love and Stevie Spark.

The weekend college football schedule begins Saturday with a new top-ranked team, Georgia, who will take on Mississippi State on ESPN. Second-ranked Ohio State will face Indiana on Fox, while third-ranked Michigan battles Nebraska and fourth-ranked TCU travels to meet Texas on ABC. Other games featuring top 10-ranked teams include No. 6 Oregon-Washington (Fox), No. 7 LSU-Arkansas (ESPN), No.9 Alabama-No. 11 Ole Miss (CBS) and No. 10 Clemson-Louisville (ESPN).

NBC will tip off its women’s college basketball coverage on Saturday with a matchup between California and Notre Dame in the inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic, the first live women’s college basketball game on NBC ever, and the first college basketball game of any kind since 1988, according to network officials. ■  

This weekend’s list of live TV sports events begins in the boxing ring as Fox Sports distributes a Saturday night pay-per-view boxing card featuring former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

Wilder, whose last three PPV fights against heavyweight champion Tyson Fury combined drew more than 1.7 million pay-per-view buys, will fight division contender Robert Helenius as part of the PPV boxing event offered via In Demand and PPV.com. Also on Saturday, ESPN will distribute the lightweight championship rematch bout between titleholder Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr.

In addition, ESPN Plus will stream a Saturday afternoon main event bout between women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. 

On the baseball diamond, the division series playoff round continues on Saturday with TBS airing game four of the NLDS Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres series. Both series were tied one game apiece heading into Friday’s action. 

FS1 will air game three of the ALDS series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians, with the Yankees holding a 1-0 game lead prior to Friday’s game, as well as the Houston Astros-Seattle Mariners series, with Houston holding a two games to none lead in the best-of-five series.  

College football launches its seventh week of regular-season action starting with top-ranked Georgia against Vanderbilt on the SEC Network, third-ranked Alabama against No. 6 Tennessee on CBS, fourth-ranked Clemson traveling to face Florida State on ABC and fifth-ranked Michigan battling tenth-ranked Penn State on Fox. Also on tap for Saturday is No. 7 USC-Utah (Fox), No. 8 Oklahoma State-TCU (ABC) and No. 9 Ole Miss-Auburn (ESPN).

NBC on Saturday will air the Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 302 playoffs race and Sunday’s NASCAR Cup South Point 400 playoffs race. 

NBC on Sunday will air its Sunday Night Football game telecast featuring the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles and their NFC East division rival Dallas Cowboys.■ 

The first weekend of October’s live TV sports schedule begins on the baseball diamond as Major League Baseball enters the final weekend of the 2022 regular season, highlighted by the NL East division battle between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves.

The Mets lead the defending World Series champion Braves by one game in the division heading into a crucial three-game series beginning Friday night. On Saturday, Fox will televise game two of Mets-Braves, while the third and final game will air Sunday on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast.

Saturday’s college football schedule begins in Missouri as top-ranked Georgia takes on the Tigers on the SEC Network, while second-ranked Alabama battles Arkansas on CBS. Third-ranked Ohio State takes on Rutgers on the Big Ten Network, and Fox will televise fourth-ranked Michigan’s game with Big Ten rival Iowa.

No. 5 Clemson will host No. 10 NC State on ABC, No. 6 USC will host Arizona State on ESPN, No. 7 Kentucky meets Ole Miss on ESPN and No. 9 Oklahoma State battles Baylor on Fox.

Sunday’s NFL action features an early morning NFL Network telecast from London featuring the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. After Sunday afternoon regional NFL game telecasts on CBS and Fox, NBC will air live the Kansas City Chiefs-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Sunday Night Football.

English Premier League soccer games will air on USA Network and Peacock throughout the weekend, while ABC and FS1 will televise Major League Soccer games on Sunday.

On Sunday, NBC will air the NASCAR Cup YellaWood 500 auto race, while FS1 televises the NHRA Midwest Nationals drag racing competition.

In the Octagon, ESPN Plus on Saturday will stream a UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event bout between female straw-weights Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan. ■

The 2022 NFL season kicks off Thursday, September 8, with the defending champ Los Angeles Rams playing the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. NBC has the game. The kickoff takes place at 8:20 p.m. ET and coverage begins at 7 p.m. 

Despite it happening on a Thursday, the game bears NBC’s Sunday Night Football branding. Sunday Night Football continues September 11 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing the Dallas Cowboys. The Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers a week later. 

The Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. 

Every Sunday night game this season streams on Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. 

Al Michaels has done 16 seasons in the booth for Sunday Night Football. Now calling Thursday Night Football games for Prime Video, he shifts to an emeritus role at NBC Sports. 

Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will work the Sunday night games for NBC, with Melissa Stark handling sideline reporting. 

Coordinating producer Rob Hyland and director Drew Esocoff handle the production for NBC Sports. ■

Just in time for the NFL's opening weekend,  DirecTV and Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV have reached an agreement in principle on a new retransmission consent agreement.

KSL, owned by Bonneville International, a unit of the Mormon Church, went dark to DirecTV customers on Aug. 21 after three extensions to a deal that officially expired on June 30.

The renewal comes just in time for NBC Sunday Night Football, pitting the Dallas Cowboys against the New York Giants at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

In a statement on its website on Sept. 12, KSL said a deal had been reached.

“KSL received communication from DirecTV Saturday that they have agreed to fairly compensate KSL for its valuable content” KSL vice president/general manager Tanya Vea said in a statement. “Thank you to our viewers for your patience. KSL is now back on DirecTV.”