NBC Sports is doubling down on the NFL, securing a critical late-season game that promises to reshape the league's final weekend. The Comcast-owned network announced Monday during its upfront presentation that it has acquired rights to an additional NFL matchup on Saturday, January 2, 2027—part of the league's pivotal Week 17 slate.
The new game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET and air across both NBC Sports and Peacock, followed by a primetime showdown at 8 p.m. ET that will be exclusive to Peacock. This addition completes a trio of high-stakes contests for the network on the season's penultimate weekend, which also includes a marquee Sunday Night Football clash.
"With three NFL games in exclusive national windows on the season's penultimate weekend, we continue to deliver for our owned stations, affiliates, and partners," said NBC Sports president Rick Cordella.
While the specific teams for these games remain under wraps until the league's full schedule release on Thursday, NBC Sports did tease a blockbuster opener for its 2026 Sunday Night Football slate: a Cowboys-Giants showdown on September 13. Overall, the network will broadcast 26 NFL games next season, including the Hall of Fame Game on August 6, 22 regular-season matchups, two wild-card playoff games, and one divisional postseason contest.
This year's upfront was notably quieter on the sports front compared to last year, when NBC Sports hyped its "Legendary February" featuring the 2026 Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LX. Still, the network leaned into its year-round Sunday night sports lineup, anchored by the continued dominance of Sunday Night Football—the top primetime show in U.S. television for 15 consecutive years—along with newly acquired NBA and MLB rights. The network also introduced former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin as a new addition to the Football Night in America pregame show.
"Talking football is a natural act for me, and I'm excited for this new challenge," Tomlin said.
NBC isn't the only network expanding its NFL footprint. Fox also secured two additional games for the 2026 season, signaling that the league's broadcast rights remain as hotly contested as ever.