NBC Goes All In For NFL Season Opener In New Orleans

For the NFL season opener in New Orleans on Thursday, NBC Universal is sending every network division except for its cleaning people to the Crescent City. NBC News is sending Today, NBC Nightly News and correspondents from Weather Channel and CNBC, Entertainment doing several NFL-themed shows and of course, NBC Sports will be there as well.

We have the press release.

TODAY, Nightly News & Others Report From New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, LA. – Sept. 8, 2010 – NBC Universal is getting “Back to Football” with NFL-themed programming all week and unprecedented coverage from New Orleans on Thursday highlighted by the 2010 NFL season kicking off with the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints hosting the Minnesota Vikings in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship Game. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Rivaling NBC Universal’s presence at the Olympics and Super Bowl, NBC Universal will be on site in New Orleans covering the annual NFL Kickoff celebration in the city of the Super Bowl Champion. Pre-game coverage will features a Mardi Gras-style “Back to Football” parade and performances by the Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift live from New Orleans’ Jackson Square. The parade route through the French Quarter is expected to be packed with Saints fans from the region celebrating the team’s first Super Bowl in the 43-year history of the organization.
“For so many fans, the start of football season is always special. We are working closely with the NFL to build upon the momentum when our country gets “Back to Football,” said Mike McCarley, Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing, NBC Sports and Olympics. “The celebration in New Orleans is expected to have unique resonance this year as the Saints’ Super Bowl victory, was very special for Saints fans across the country and especially for those here in the Gulf region.”
Highlights of NBC Universal’s “Back to Football” Week:

Tuesday & Wednesday

Minute To Win It: NFL players compete
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: NFL-themed content (all week)

Thursday (all reporting from New Orleans)

TODAY: Matt Lauer and Al Roker Live from various sites in New Orleans
Nightly News: Brian Williams from the Lower Ninth Ward
Access Hollywood: Tony Potts on-site
The Weather Channel: Wake Up with Al
CNBC: Reports all day
MSNBC: Reports all day
Telemundo: Titulares y Mas

Friday

TODAY: Sugarland to perform a Football-themed concert in Rockefeller Plaza

Saturday

Saturday Night Live: Peyton Manning Hosts (reair)
Additional NBCU programs not on-site in New Orleans will get “Back to Football” with their own unique content. In primetime, “Minute To Win It” NFL-themed episodes featuring Vikings and Saints players and cheerleaders air Tuesday and Wednesday. “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” is incorporating NFL content all week, Tuesday featured Fallon’s popular ‘Pros and Cons’ segment with Justin Tuck of the New York Giants Even Universal Orlando is also going “Back to Football” by hosting NFL Kickoff parties at CityWalk.
Once Thursday’s game is complete, NBC’s coverage of the start of the 2010 NFL season continues with a football-themed Sugarland concert on TODAY on Friday morning in Rockefeller Plaza in New York. Additional NFL-themed programming continues throughout the weekend leading up to the first “Sunday Night Football” game of the season, the NFC East rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins. Coverage begins with “Football Night in America” at 7 p.m. ET.

You have plenty of stuff to watch from New Orleans.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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