NBC has designated most of the 10 games in the opening weekend of the Premier League to stream exclusively on Peacock. The paid streaming platform played a key role last season as it had many games exclusive on the service. Many of those were key games for the league’s standings, including both of the games between Arsenal and Manchester City.

That trend extends into the opening weekend of the Premier League, as there will be a number of games available only to Peacock subscribers. In total, seven of the 10 games that opening weekend are exclusive to Peacock users. Additionally, NBC simulcasts the Saturday at 12:30 p.m. kickoff on Peacock. That brings the total to eight games available on Peacock.

Peacock was already an essential part of watching the Premier League in the United States. There are as many as six Premier League games on Peacock on average for each matchday. The others are on USA Network, which does require some sort of cable subscription. However, when Goal Rush, the whiparound show for the Premier League, is on, that is another contest on USA Network that Peacock subscribers can follow.

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Additionally, Comcast users lost their included Peacock subscription this summer. Therefore, putting seven games exclusively on Peacock is a major statement. NBC may see this move as a wake-up call for those that lost their free subscription that they need to subscribe to Peacock.

Peacock coverage of Premier League opening weekend is live from England

If NBC made a push to put more games on Peacock last season, it also made the push to broadcast games from stadiums. Last season, the NBC crew traveled to Elland Road, the Etihad, Goodison Park and more. Then, this summer, the crew did live coverage of games during the Premier League Summer Series.

To commemorate the start of the 2023/24 campaign, NBC will be live from four stadiums over those first four days of the season. On Friday, the crew is live from Turf Moor for Burnley’s return to the Premier League against Manchester City. Then, the weekend visits are to St. James’ Park and Stamford Bridge. Finally, the last stop in the stadium visits is to Old Trafford as Manchester United takes on Wolves. The Chelsea game against Liverpool is the only one of those four games that is exclusive to Peacock. However, each game the crew is not at is exclusively on Peacock.

Premier League opening weekend schedule

Friday, Aug. 11

  • 3 p.m. – Burnley vs. Manchester City. – USA Network and Universo.

Saturday, Aug. 12

  • 7:30 a.m. – Arsenal vs. Nottingham Forest. – Peacock.
  • 10 a.m. – Bournemouth vs. West Ham United. – Peacock.
  • 10 a.m. – Brighton and Hove Albion vs. Luton Town – Peacock.
  • 10 a.m. – Everton vs. Fulham. – Peacock.
  • 10 a.m. – Sheffield United vs. Crystal Palace. – Peacock.
  • 12:30 p.m. – Newcastle United vs. Aston Villa. – NBC, Universo and Peacock.

Sunday, Aug. 13

  • 9 a.m. – Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur. – Peacock.
  • 11:30 a.m. – Chelsea vs. Liverpool. – Peacock.

Monday, Aug. 14

  • 3 p.m. – Manchester United vs. Wolves. – USA Network and Universo.

Photo: Imago