NBC Universal to Air All 2013-14 English Premier League Games Live and Free

Never let it be said that NBC Universal does not know how to make an announcement that people around the world will hear loud and clear. Today in New York at the NBC headquarters, better known to most of the media as “30 Rock,” the network openly showed their commitment to soccer.

NBC Universal formally announced their three-year deal with the English Premier League, with the commitment to air all 380 games live and free of charge. The new contract starts August 17^th, kicking off the 2013-14 season.

NBC Universal will use many networks and broadband platforms to air all of the games each week throughout the season. According to the network, games will air on NBC, NBC Sports Network, Telemundo, Mun2, the Premier League Extra Time package of overflow television channels and the NBC Sports Live Extra website and app. Other network-owned channels, including CNBC and USA, will also be used to air the games. 

Having the English Premier League on NBC Universal is a big deal for both the league and the network. Fox Sports presently have the games and will continue to the end of the season. However, NBC Universal saw a chance to help out their young NBC Sports Network and now they have one of the best soccer leagues in the world to go with their Major League Soccer package, giving the network an impressive portfolio.

NBC Universal will air pregame and postgame shows for all 380 games, which will be streamed free via broadband on NBC Sports Live Extra. On the Spanish language side, 10 games will air live on Telemundo, while 66 games will be broadcast on Mun2.

The network will also broadcast ELP 36, a weekly profile show part of the same series they do for the NHL, IndyCar and Formula 1 broadcasts. There will be other soccer-related programs that will be announced at a later date.   

The lead team for NBC Universal will be Arlo White, who many know as the voice of the MLS telecasts on the network. His color analyst will be Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux.

They will be on sight in England to handle two games per weekend with a Saturday and a Sunday broadcast. Meanwhile, it has yet to been formalized who will handle the broadcasts of the other games during the week. 

Back at the network’s studios in Stamford, Connecticut, the studio host for all of the pregame and postgame shows will be former ESPN England anchor Rebecca Lowe.

Joining her as studio analysts will be Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe both men have strong broadcasting resumes. Earle was heard on the BBC, ITV, Sky, the Portland Timbers and ESPN, and Mustoe served as a long-time ESPN soccer analyst.

The overall good news for soccer fans is that they can see all 380 English Premier League games free. Also, there will be better distribution via the NBC Universal family of networks.

We would however be remiss if we did not say how well Fox, FX and Fox Soccer handled the English Premier League over the past two decades, growing interest in the league in the United States. Fox used the English Premier League on Sunday afternoons as part of NFL and soccer double headers.

There is no doubt that without Fox's commitment to the English Premier League, it would not be such a hot property. In the end, NBC Universal will benefit from the hard work that Fox did in growing the English Premier League brand in this country.

Now we will see how NBC will do with one of soccer’s top leagues.     

As the sports media columnist for the Washington Examiner, I receive all of the press releases from the broadcast networks.