The 2026-27 NFL schedule is beginning to come together, and NBC is getting an extra slice of pie.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the network announced it has secured the rights to an extra NFL game during Week 17 of the regular season. The game, which is being branded as an\u00a0NFL Holiday Special, will be played on Saturday, January 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET and be broadcast live across NBC and Peacock. Following the afternoon affair, Peacock will stream an exclusive NFL game in primetime, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. Teams for both games will be announced later this week when the NFL releases its full schedule on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes shortly after Fox revealed it would be adding two additional regular-season NFL games<\/a> this season during an earnings call on Monday morning. Those games, however, seemed to be part of a larger package that the league was initially looking to split between Netflix and YouTube before YouTube reportedly \u201cbalked\u201d at splitting the package of games<\/a>. NBC\u2019s extra late-season Saturday games have been sold on a one-off basis by the NFL for several years. Last year, for instance, the league awarded Fox a Saturday doubleheader<\/a> late in the season.<\/p>\n The primetime game marks the fourth consecutive season in which Peacock will exclusively air a regular-season game. In total, it will be the fifth exclusive NFL game for the streamer when including the Wild Card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins in January 2024.<\/p>\n Week 17 will now feature three separate NBC-produced NFL broadcasts: the two Saturday games and its usual\u00a0Sunday Night Football matchup the following day. While abnormal for the network, it won\u2019t be the first time NBC has produced three games in one week. In 2024, the network produced three games in Week 1: the NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday night, a Peacock-exclusive game from Brazil on Friday, followed by\u00a0Sunday Night Football to cap off the weekend.<\/p>\n