NBC Sports has announced more coverage details for their opening weekend of the 2018/19 Premier League season, which will include their talent being on-site in England to bring you closer to the action.
From Thursday, August 9 to Sunday, August 12, the entire NBC Sports crew will be together on-location in England. The coverage will move across three days from four different grounds throughout Britain, featuring on-site studios for pre-match, halftime and post-game shows as well as pitch-side locations just a few feet from the playing field.
Coverage begins on Thursday, August 9, with a special three-hour Premier League Live: Transfer Deadline Day show live from Old Trafford at 11 a.m. ET on NBCSN. The program will surround the end of the summer transfer window, which closes at Noon ET that Thursday, as the team analyzes all 20 clubs’ transfer activity. In addition, the program will preview the 2018-19 season with the entire team, as Rebecca Lowe hosts the program, joined by Arlo White, Lee Dixon, Robbie Earle, Graeme Le Saux, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe.
Arlo White will call the matches, and make pre-match and post-match appearances from NBC’s pitch-side locations. Earle, Martino and Mustoe will each call a match with White. They will join NBC’s UK-based team of Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux for 21 hours of live on-site Premier League coverage across four days.
“After an incredible summer of World Cup football which saw some players cement their star status and others elevate themselves into that sphere, we now have the treat of seeing many of these faces on our screens every week with the return of the world’s most entertaining league,” said Lowe. “And what better way to begin our sixth season of Premier League coverage on NBC than by flying to the U.K. and bringing you all our coverage from right there on the ground. We will start it all at the Theatre of Dreams for Manchester United v Leicester City. We are set for another nine months to remember.”
Here’s the schedule for the opening weekend of the Premier League season (all kickoff times listed are in the Eastern United States timezone):
Thursday, August 9
Premier League transfer deadline day (live from Old Trafford), 11am, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Friday, August 10
Manchester United vs. Leicester City, 3pm, NBCSN, Universo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Saturday, August 11
Newcastle vs. Spurs, 7:30am, NBCSN, Universo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Huddersfield vs. Chelsea, 10am, NBCSN, Universo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Bournemouth vs. Cardiff, 10am, NBC Sports Gold
Fulham vs. Crystal Palace, 10am, NBC Sports Gold
Watford vs. Brighton, 10am, NBC Sports Gold
Wolves vs. Everton, 12:30pm, NBC, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Sunday, August 12
Liverpool vs. West Ham, 8:30am, NBCSN, Telemundo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
Southampton vs. Burnley, 8:30am, NBC Sports Gold
Arsenal vs. Manchester City, 11am, NBCSN, Telemundo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)
NBC Sports’ coverage of the EPL is light years ahead of any other network’s coverage.
I wish they had the World Cup rights because they respect their viewers and don’t treat them like idiots.
Can NBC recruit Aly Wagner and her partner Ray? Then there would be no reason at all for Fox to muddy the waters like they did this summer.
Please not Wagner. Thought she was awful at the world cup. Very robotic – not wanting to say anything out of line.
A co-commentator needs to be able to easily talk off the cuff. Not just reel-out the obvious like she does. ie someone like Lee Dixon who will drop in a lot of humor and observations about the game in general. He is un-predictable and enjoyable. Not like Aly Wagner who is just bland.
Nothing to do with her being female. If she was male she’d be awful as well.
Derek Rae is again doing some games for NBC on a freelance basis (when NBC chooses to provide its own announcers for 3+ games in a weekend)- was confirmed in NBC’s press release today- in addition to his periodic calls for the Bundesliga’s world feed.
Aly Wagner has ZERO chance of being involved with EPL on NBC. If Wagner wants to call big men’s games, she needs to stay with FOX, as there is at least a 50-50 chance FOX will copy Televisa Deportes (MEX) for the Final of World Cup 2022 and/or 2026.
For the Final Match of FIFA Men’s World Cup Russia 2018, Televisa offered a primary “all-male” broadcast team on Canal 2 and an alternative “all female” broadcast team on Canal 9.
Story: wp.me/p9bV8O-7j
I can see the World Cup 2022 final in Doha, Qatar with John Strong/Stu Holden calling the match on “Big FOX” and Jenn Hildreth/Aly Wagner calling the match on an “alternative” broadcast on FS1.
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The name to watch with regards to EPL on NBC is Kelly Smith, who essentially bailed out FOX EP David Neal by salvaging the pre-match studio show for FOX during FIFA Men’s World Cup 2018.
NBC will NOT assign Kelly Smith to the gantry as a co-commentator until she can get reps calling matches for an entity other than NBC. Because her path to the gantry to call FA WSL women’s matches at BT Sport is blocked by former Leeds United administrator Lucy Ward, Smith has to look elsewhere for reps. Arsenal Media, various world feeds, etc.
Smith needs to get reps, and FAST, if she wants any show of calling an EPL match on NBC on March 8, 9, or 10, 2019. (International Women’s Day is March 8.) Those would be the ONLY dates NBC would even consider hiring Smith to call an EPL match as a co-comm, especially if NBC is also willing to hire Jacqui Oatley or Vicki Sparks to call play-by-play.
(Oatley hasn’t called match play-by-play in at least 5 years so she will needs reps if she wants to call an EPL match on NBCSN, while Sparks is still very raw and she sounded like a robot when she called play-by-play the Portugal v Morocco 2018 Men’s World Cup match on BBC1.)
Do you write this bs on duty when you should be observing and reporting?
I suppose big NBC will continue to have no pregame. Those without cable will always have to play catch up