NFL pregame shows going on the road for regular season games was once a rare occurrence, but it’s something that seems to be taking place more frequently these days. And now NBC’s Football Night in America is getting in on the act.
Earlier this season, The NFL Today on CBS went on the road twice for on-site broadcasats from Detroit and Buffalo for two high-profile regular season games. And with the NFC North clash between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions deciding the NFC’s #1 seed in the final game of the regular season, Football Night in America will be following suit.
According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, NBC will send both their in-studio and on-site teams to Detroit’s Ford Field for the highly anticipated showdown. It’s only the second time NBC has done so for a non-kickoff game in the regular season with the first coming for Tom Brady’s return to New England when he played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of course, NBC already has an on-site crew with Jac Collinsworth, Tony Dungy, and Rodney Harrison that broadcasts from the stadium each week. The studio crew of Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett, Devin McCourty, and Chris Simms stationed separately. But this coming week, they will all be stationed in Detroit, which makes total sense given the rare stakes of two teams playing not just for a division crown, but the overall #1 seed in the NFC.
Hopefully there’s enough room in the stadium for both sets. Or maybe we will see NBC take the CNN Election Night strategy of seeing how many people they can cram around the same desk together.
About Matt Yoder