An upcoming primetime NFL showdown in Dallas is the latest game on the league schedule to get enhanced network treatment.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football game this weekend between the Packers and Cowboys, a highlight of the early-season schedule, will include the network bringing its Football Night in America pregame show on-site to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. John Fanta, newly hired by NBC Sports to call men’s college basketball games, will also make his FNIA debut to provide updates and highlights from network headquarters in Connecticut.
The network’s daily fantasy football and sports betting show, Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry, will also air Sunday from the stadium.
The elevated broadcast plan follows one that many of the NFL’s other rights holders have used for top games on their schedules.
NBC, of course, did the same thing for the kickoff game Sept. 4 in Philadelphia between the Cowboys and Eagles—a contest that was on course to set a ratings record before a weather delay. CBS was at Lambeau Field with its pregame show for a season-opening matchup between the Lions and Packers that similarly fueled a strong start for that network. Fox then brought its pregame show to Kansas City for the Super Bowl LIX rematch Sept. 14 between the Eagles and Chiefs, also generating historic viewership.
Comcast-owned NBC additionally has begun to escalate its promotion of the Packers-Cowboys matchup, leaning heavily in to the high-profile, preseason trade between the two that sent standout defensive end Micah Parsons to Green Bay. Directly referencing the tense emotions that led to the departure of Parsons from Dallas, network promotional spots for the game use Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” as backing music.
There are still plenty of emotions surrounding Parsons and the return to Dallas. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said there will be no pregame tribute video for Parsons, saying, “I don’t think that’s appropriate.” Parsons, for his part, told the Associated Press it would be “painful” to sack Cowboys quarterback and former mentor Dak Prescott.
Surprisingly, the game will be the first on a Sunday night in Dallas between the two, despite the teams’ rivalry being one of the NFL’s best for decades.
The commitment of additional resources to NFL game productions is also not surprising, given the hefty viewership registered so far this season. The first two weeks of the NFL season overall have averaged 20.7 million viewers per game, the best mark at that point of the schedule in league history.
