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Drew Brees, Mike Tirico To Call First NFL Game This Week

“Brees is on the game call with Mike Tirico when the Saints battle the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving.”

The New Orleans Saints are honoring Drew Brees on Thanksgiving all while he calls the game for NBC.

Russ Heltman

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Courtesy: NBC

Drew Brees is preparing for a special Thanksgiving this year, although he’ll still be working. The Saints organization is honoring their former quarterback at halftime in his first time back at the Superdome since retiring at the end of the 2020 season.

Brees is on the game call with Mike Tirico when the Saints battle the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving. The two have been working together all Notre Dame Football season, broadcasting Fighting Irish games for NBC.

“My family and I are forever grateful for all the incredible moments we shared together with the city of New Orleans and Who Dat Nation,” Brees said in a press release. “What an incredible moment it will be, back in the Dome with the greatest fans in the world.”

Amazon is entering the NFL broadcast space starting next year and has rumored interest in bringing in Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. The two have been calling games together on NBC for over a decade, but all good things must come to an end. FOX’s Troy Aikman has also been mentioned as a possible target.

NBC hired Tirico to eventually take over Sunday Night Football from Michaels. There was no clear date set for passing the baton but that time is coming and NBC executives will get their first taste of Tirico and Brees together on an NFL call this coming Thursday. 

Many assumed Brees and Tirico would groom their chemistry on the college circuit before taking over the reins of NBC’s top property. Thanksgiving is the next step in that process, and it will be interesting to see how Brees handles all of the firsts on Thanksgiving. 

“Drew Brees will always be considered one of the greatest Saints in the history of the organization,” said Saints owner Gayle Benson. “While we look forward to one day welcoming Drew back as a Hall of Famer and a member of our Ring of Honor, Thanksgiving night is the perfect opportunity for us to say thank you to Drew and his family the right way- on the field and in front of 70,000 of the best fans in football.”

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NBC Adds Jimmie Johnson as Racing Analyst for Four Races in 2024

“Any time you can add one of the greatest drivers of all time and an icon of the sport, you jump at the opportunity,”

Barrett Sports Media

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Logos for NBC Sports and NASCAR and a photo of Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson Photo Courtesy: NBC

In 2024, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will be joining NBC Sports as a part of their motorsports coverage for four races. He will be involved in both pre-race and race coverage of the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, which will air on both NBC and Peacock. This addition further enhances NBC Sports’ already comprehensive presentation of this historic event. Johnson had previously contributed to the studio coverage of the event back in 2021.

Johnson will also provide analysis for NBC Sports during their coverage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Superspeedway on August 24th and the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6th, which are two of the three playoff races in the Round of 12. Additionally, Johnson will provide insights for select NASCAR events in which he is racing this year, including the highly-anticipated NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 10th.

“To have the opportunity to experience ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ once again is such an honor,” said Johnson in a release. “I was part of the NBC broadcast team in 2021 and it just fueled the fire I needed to make my childhood dream of racing in the Indianapolis 500 one day a reality. Competing in this race as a driver was a chance of a lifetime, so to be able to experience the pageantry again is just so special. Even though I’ve never been able to do the ‘double’ as a driver, May 26th is going to be a very busy day. After the broadcast, I’ll fly to Charlotte Motor Speedway and drive in the Coca-Cola 600. I’m so thankful to NBC for the opportunity and continued partnership.”

“Any time you can add one of the greatest drivers of all time and an icon of the sport, you jump at the opportunity,” said Sam Flood, lead producer for NBC Sports’ motorsports coverage. “We are thrilled to be working with Jimmie and adding his unique perspective on every race he covers, as well as having him become the first person ever to do the ‘double’ – history awaits.”

Peacock will again be the home of Indy 500 practice and qualifying providing more than 50 hours of coverage. The NBC broadcast network will air three hours of Indy 500 qualifying coverage on Sunday, May 19, at 3 p.m. ET to determine the starting grid for the race. Peacock will simulstream all qualifying coverage on NBC.

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Five Marquee NFL Games Released; Jets and 49ers Get Week 1 Monday Night Football on ESPN

Sunday of Week 1 will see the Dallas Cowboys travel to take on the Cleveland Browns. This game will be carried by FOX and will feature the debut of Tom Brady as an analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt.

Barrett Sports Media

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With the official release of the NFL schedule set for Wednesday May 15 at 8 p.m. ET news is starting to leak out on some of the marquee early season matchups. ESPN announced their first Monday Night Football game, which will feature Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets traveling to San Francisco to take on the defending NFC Champion 49ers.

Other games which have been announced include a week one AFC Championship rematch between the Ravens and the Chiefs, which will be carried on Thursday night by NBC. The next day, on Friday, the Eagles and Packers will battle in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a game which will be exclusively streamed by Peacock.

Sunday of Week 1 will see the Dallas Cowboys travel to take on the Cleveland Browns. This game will be carried by FOX and will feature the debut of Tom Brady as an analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt.

One other game has been announced, which is a Week 2 game that will feature Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals traveling to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the 2-time defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs. That game will be carried by CBS.

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Prime Video Renews ‘Coach Prime’ for Third Season, Reveals Four New Sports Documentaries at 2024 Amazon Upfront

The company revealed these new documentaries and the renewal of “Coach Prime” at its inaugural Upfront from Pier 36 in New York City.

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(Illustration) | Courtesy: Prime Video and Amazon Studios

Amazon’s Prime Video has announced that it will be renewing the third season of Coach Prime, which will premiere exclusively on the Prime Video platform. The series will give fans access to the locker room and action on the field of the University of Colorado Boulder football program within the upcoming season. The Emmy-nominated docufollow series is produced by Constance Schwartz-Morini, Michael Strahan, FredAnthony Smith and Jamie Elias of SMAC Productions, a division of SMAC Entertainment. In addition to the renewal of Coach Prime, the company also announced four new sports documentaries at the inaugural Amazon Upfront presentation from Pier 36 in New York City.

A four-part documentary centered on legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. has been greenlit by Prime Video. For two decades, Earnhardt soared to mainstream notoriety, earning lucrative endorsement deals and appearing in daytime and late-night television. The documentary will grant viewers an account of a historic American family and how it conquered what was not always a facile path.

The documentary will be produced by Imagine Documentaries, NASCAR Studios and Everyone Else, in association with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dirty Mo Media. Earnhardt Jr. will also serve as an analyst for NASCAR races on Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports starting in 2025. Brian Glazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes of Imagine Entertainment will serve as executive producers for the documentary, along with Matt Summers and Tim Clark of NASCAR Studios and TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Tony Mayhoff.

Prime Video has also greenlit a four-part documentary about the story behind the Madden NFL video game franchise. The untitled documentary reveals how the iconic video game was created, including revealing never-before-seen footage and allowing cameras to follow them as they complete the next iteration of the game. The project is presented by Prime Video and A+E Factual Studio Groups, the latter of which is also producing the series with SMAC Productions, Misher Films and MTP.

Executive producers on the series include Kevin Misher and Andy Berman of Misher Films; Michael Strahan, Constance Schwartz-Morini and FredAnthony Smith of SMAC Entertainment and Mike Tollin of MTP. Sandy Montag of The Montag Group; Steve Ascher, Kristy Sabat and Jessica Conway of A+E Factual Studios; Daryl Holt, Seann Graddy and Julie Foster of EA Sports; and Nathan Caswell, Jeremiah Zagar and Jeremy Yaches of Public Record will also executive produce the venture.

A new five-part anthology series will showcase teams that attained thrilling Game 7 victories during the playoffs, facing immense pressure and intensity in an effort to attain the ultimate glory. The Chicago Cubs, who snapped a 108-year championship drought when the team won the World Series title in 2016, will be featured as part of the series. Additionally, the 1994 New York Rangers will also be highlighted and how the team won back-to-back seventh games to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.

Titled Game 7, the docuseries is produced by Words + Pictures and directed by Daniel Amigone. Executive producers on the project include Connor Schell, Aaron Cohen and Anneka Jones of Words + Pictures; Mark Messier, Mat Vlasic and Isaac Chera of Game 7; and Danny DeVito, Jake DeVito and Lucy DeVito of Jersey Films 2nd Avenue.

Prime Video has also greenlit a true-crime documentary about Kansas City Chiefs superfan and serial bank robber Xaviar Babudar. Known as the “ChiefsAHolic” and recognized for his wolf costume and presence on social media, Babudar gained notoriety as a loyal and dedicated fan to the team. Yet he was arrested in Bixby, Okla. in December 2022 after police discovered a string of bank robberies and pleaded guilty to three charges in connection with those robberies or attempted robberies in federal court this past February.

The documentary, titled ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing and directed by Dylan Sires, contains interviews granted by Babudar himself and looks at his journey. Canadian hip-hop artist Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham of DreamCrew Entertainment is an executive producer on the project, along with Andrew Renzi of North of Now and Douglas Banner of Five All in the Fifth Entertainment.

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