Following a record-breaking initial campaign and futbol fever inspired by the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, NBC Sports Group will kick off its complete 380-match coverage of the 2014-15 Premier League season on Aug. 16.
Coverage begins at 7 a.m. (ET) on NBCSN with Premier League Live followed by Manchester United (pictued) versus Swansea City on NBCSN and mun2, and continues throughout the season on the networks of NBCUniversal, on the Premier League Extra Time bonus TV package, and streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra.
Last season, a record 31.5 million Americans tuned in to NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage – more than doubling the 13.3 million who watched the 2012-13 campaign on ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer, according to Nielsen data.
NBC and NBCSN combined to average 438,000 viewers per match, a 99% jump from last season’s combined average of 220,000 ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer. Gauged on a cable-only basis, NBCSN averaged 395,000 viewers, 80% amelioration over the aforementioned network trio.
This season, NBC Sports Group will once again make all 380 Premier League matches available in the U.S., with every MVPD holding the option to present all of the contests on live television and via live streaming at no additional cost to consumers. All games will be preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match shows from the NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.
Coverage on NBC, NBCSN, mun2 and Telemundo aside, the programmer is presenting the other matches that can be televised via ad hoc channels under the “Extra Time” banners. Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cox, Mediacom, AT&T U-verse, Cablevision’s Optimum, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, DirecTV, Suddenlink, and members of the National Cable Television Cooperative are all slated to again present matches via the Premier League Extra Time package, with Verizon FiOS coming on board shortly after the start of the season.
Meanwhile, NBC Sports Live Extra, which makes all contests available on computer, tablet and mobile devices to authenticated video subscribers of NBCSN, is again on the pitch with Cox, AT&T U-verse, Cablevision’s Optimum, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, DirecTV, Dish, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS and NCTC members. Time Warner Cable is new to Premier League TVE games this season.
NBC Sports Group’s top Premier League play-by-play announcer Arlo White will be joined by Lee Dixon on-site at Emirates Stadium to call Arsenal against Crystal Palace on Aug. 16 at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC. White will pair with Graeme Le Saux to call Sunday’s Liverpool-Southampton contest at 8:30 a.m. on NBCSN.
All matches will be preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match shows from the NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Rebecca Lowe hosts Premier League Live alongside former Jamaican national team player Robbie Earle and former Premier League footballer Robbie Mustoe.
Sunday’s coverage kicks off at 7 a.m. ET with a new episode of Premier League Download, featuring an exclusive interview with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who speaks openly about how it felt to come so close to the Premier League title last season, the summer sale of Luis Suarez, and what he thinks would be the ideal ending to his time at the club.
Imported from ESPN and their World Cup break-through, Men in Blazers’ Michael Davies and Roger Bennett will make their NBC Sports Group debuts on Goal Zone on Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBCSN. Sunday’s Goal Zone, hosted by Lowe who will be joined by Earle and Mustoe, will also feature BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
The full schedule for week one, including matches broadcast by the Premier League using the World Feed:
