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NBC Reveals Matchup for 2024 NFL Kickoff, Adds Key Week 16 Saturday Game to Schedule
The NFL Season is getting closer, and NBCUniversal just made a pair of big football announcements.
Now that the NFL Draft is over for 2024, the National Football League is gearing up for the launch of the 2024 regular season at the end of the summer. That means teams, networks, and league officials are all getting ready for big news, and on Monday NBCUniversal dropped two key pieces of info for its NFL plans this year.
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In collaboration with the NFL, NBCUniversal revealed on Monday that the official NFL Kickoff game, which will air on NBC and Peacock on Thursday, September 5, is set to feature not just a crucial NFL matchup, but a rematch of last season's AFC Championship game. That game, the first of the 2024 regular season, will feature the Kansas City Chiefs led by Patrick Mahomes, hosting the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson.
NFL 2024 Kickoff Game to Feature Chiefs vs. Ravens
The Thursday night game will mark the first in a trio of NFL games hosted by NBCUniversal across the season's Kickoff weekend, which will also include the Peacock-exclusive September 6 game between the Packers and the Eagles played live from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the season debut of Sunday Night Football on September 8. The full NFL schedule will be revealed on May 15, giving us more info on the teams set to appear on NBC and Peacock this coming season.
NBC and Peacock Add Week 16 Saturday Game
But the season-opener news is not all the NFL news. NBCUniversal also revealed Monday that it's added another exclusive NFL matchup later in the season, when every game puts teams one step closer (or one step further away) to a shot at playoff glory. We don't yet know the teams, but we do know that on the afternoon of Saturday, December 21, NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo will simulcast a major Week 16 matchup. Throw in the usual Sunday Night Football matchup on Sunday, December 22, and the weekend marks the first time NBCUniversal has hosted two days of Week 16 games in nearly 30 years.
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“We’re excited to work with our partners at the NFL to acquire an additional game for NBCUniversal platforms at a crucial point in the playing season,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “With two NFL games in exclusive windows on the last December weekend before the holidays, we continue to deliver for our owned-stations, affiliates and partners.”
The 2024 NFL regular season schedule arrives May 15, so we'll know more very soon about which teams will appear across NBCUniversal platforms throughout the football year.
