No ads in 4th for Bills-Chargers
Saturday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers already carried significance as the first NFL game to be exclusively streamed on Peacock.
The matchup will also feature another milestone as NBC and the NFL announced Thursday morning that the fourth quarter will be commercial free for the first time.
NBCUniversal says there will be a 40% reduction in the standard ad time for an NFL game which should result in at least 12 additional minutes of game-related content.
Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” said there have been discussions about this game since June about how to make it unique and distinct from a regular NBC broadcast.
“The limited stoppages are exciting for me as someone that wants to tell the story of the game and have the time to do it,” he said.
During one of the two breaks of 2 minutes, 20 seconds, in the fourth quarter, the announce team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark will delve more into some of the game’s storylines.
The other will go to the “Football Night in America” studio team for their thoughts on the game as well as the upcoming slate of games for the remainder of Week 16.
The commercial-free quarter will be sponsored by Capital One, Hyundai and Walmart.
Also, Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, the league’s receptions leader, won’t play Saturday because of a heel injury.
Tug-of-war added to Pro Bowl skills
The NFL is adding tug-of-war to its Pro Bowl skills competitions in February.
The league announced Thursday what those selected for the Pro Bowl will compete in, including dodgeball, precision passing, a closest-to-the-pin golf challenge and a Madden gaming event.
The games will take place at Central Florida and finish with a seven-on-seven flag football game between the AFC and NFC on Feb. 4.
In tug-of-war, teams of five will start above a foam pit and try and pull the opposing group in their direction.
Dodgeball will have four teams of five players with the AFC offense facing the NFC defense and then the AFC defense playing the NFC offense.
Odds and ends
The turf at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be replaced in early 2024 with a monofilament surface that has been shown to carry slightly lower injury risk than the turf currently installed. … Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (ankle) will not play in Saturday’s game against the Bengals.