NBC Sports’ 2020-21 Coverage Included 900+ Live Hours of Studio Shows and Match Windows — Most Ever in Single Season – Including 90-Minute “Championship Sunday” Post-match Show as Manchester City Lifted the Trophy
Peacock’s First Full Season Featuring Premier League Highlighted by 175 Live Matches, Studio Shows, On Demand Replays and Premier League TV Channel
Matches on NBC Averaged Total Audience Delivery of 879,000 – up 2% from 2019-20
8 Matches Averaged More Than 1 Million Viewers (TAD) this Season – Tied for Most in 5 Years; NBC Sports Has Presented 28 of the 30 Most-Watched Live Premier League Matches U.S. TV History
Philadelphia Tops Local Market Ratings for Full Season, Followed by Washington, D.C., Seattle, Baltimore and San Diego
STAMFORD, Conn. — May 25, 2021 – NBC Sports’ presentation of the 2020-21 Premier League season was its most extensive and comprehensive ever – featuring 340 match windows and 914 hours of live match and studio coverage on the networks of NBCUniversal and Peacock. Both of those figures are the largest for a Premier League season ever in the U.S.
For the eighth consecutive year, all 10 Premier League matches on the season’s final Sunday were presented live, simultaneously (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET) across the platforms of NBCUniversal, highlighted by games that determined a pair of Champions League berths. In addition, NBC once again broadcast a 90-minute “Championship Sunday” post-match show, highlighted by champions Manchester City lifting the trophy, interviews, and final thoughts and analysis on the 2020-21 season.
The five Championship Sunday matches on television registered a combined Total Audience Delivery of 1.4 million viewers (does not include the 10 matches streamed on Peacock).
Premier League matches on NBC, featuring Sunday’s Liverpool-Crystal Palace match on Sunday in which the Reds secured a Champions League berth, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 879,000 viewers this season – up 2% from last season.
In addition, eight NBC and NBCSN matches averaged a TAD of at least 1 million viewers – tying for the most audiences of 1 million in five years, since the 2015-16 season.
NBC Sports Group averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 414,000 viewers per match window for the 2020-21 season (does not include Peacock streaming or Spanish-language telecasts).
Premier League Viewership Highlights
- Since kicking off its Premier League coverage in August 2013, NBC Sports has presented 28 of the 30 most-watched live Premier League matches ever in the U.S. across all platforms.
- NBC Sports posted its most-watched Boxing Day (Dec. 26, 2020) ever with a Total Audience Delivery average of 664,000 viewers for four matches across NBC and NBCSN.
- NBC’s 12:30 p.m. ET Arsenal-Chelsea match was the most-watched Boxing Day match ever with a TAD of 1.2 million viewers.
- NBC Sports posted its most-watched Boxing Day (Dec. 26, 2020) ever with a Total Audience Delivery average of 664,000 viewers for four matches across NBC and NBCSN.
- NBCSN registered a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.06 million viewers for the Feb. 7 Liverpool-Manchester City match – ranking as the second-most watched Premier League cable match ever in U.S. TV history (Manchester Derby, 1.16 million viewers on Apr. 12, 2015 on NBCSN).
- In 2021, NBCSN delivered the two most-watched February cable matches in the history of the Premier League on U.S. TV: Liverpool-Manchester City on Feb. 7 (1.06 million viewers) and Chelsea-Manchester United on Feb. 28 (828,000 viewers).
- The Dec. 12, 2020 Manchester Derby posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.2 million viewers across NBC, Telemundo and NBC Sports Digital, ranking as the second-most watched fall Manchester Derby on record in the U.S.
- More than 1 billion minutes of NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage was consumed on the NBC Sports YouTube channel– a single-season record.
- The seven most-engaged posts (and eight of the top 10) in @NBCSportsSoccer Instagram history came during the 2020-21 season.
- The 2 Robbies and Premier League on NBC podcasts delivered a season-record 127 episodes and had a 21% increase in downloads from last season.
- The free-to-play game Premier League Pick ‘Em continued to help grow the NBC Sports Predictor app userbase to more than 1.7 million fans, who have made over 27 million contest entries since the platform’s launch in December 2018.
Throughout the season, NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage featured a wide range of innovations and milestones. Among the highlights:
- PEACOCK DEBUTS FIRST FULL SEASON OF NBC SPORTS’ PREMIER COVERAGE: Peacock featured 175 live matches, studio shows and replays. For the first time ever, U.S. viewers had access to the Premier League TV channel on Peacock. In February, Peacock streamed its first-ever live Spanish-language sporting eventwith the Arsenal-Manchester City match. Throughout the season, Peacock presented multiple matches live in both English and Spanish, as well Premier League Goal Rush, featuring live whip-around coverage.
- SPECIAL “PREMIER LEAGUE: UP FOR THIS PRESENTED BY BARCLAYS”: NBC Sports produced special “Premier League: Up For This presented by Barclays” which celebrates the passionate, American Premier League supporter. Featuring interviews with fans from across the country and from the PL on NBC team, the 30-minute show told the stories of how fans fell in love with English football, what watching Premier League Mornings means to them and how the Barclays Fan Fest has become the next best thing to being at a match.
- INCREASED SKY SPORTS INTEGRATION: NBC Sports increased its content and operations integration with Sky Sports, in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes, including collaborating on breaking news with Sky Sports News. During Black History Month in February, NBC Sports presented Sky Sports’ Micah Richards: Tackling Racism documentary focusing on areas of the game that are affected by racism with the objective of seeking real answers, solutions and achievable targets moving forward, making the game safer and more inclusive for all. For the October and February transfer deadlines, Sky Sports News’ 11 hours of international deadline day coverage was available in the U.S. exclusively on Peacock and was followed by NBCSN’s Premier League Live: Transfer Deadline Special. Sky Sports’ and NBC Sports’ Premier League talent appeared across both presentations.
- WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHTED: Throughout Women’s History Month in March, NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage featured vignettes, profiles and interviews highlighting women’s soccer in the U.K. Among those interviewed: USWNT star Rose Lavelle; Premier League Assistant Referee Sian Massey-Ellis; and Leeds United defender Olivia Smart, who is also a nurse, and discussed administering the COVID vaccine at Elland Road, where Leeds United play their home matches. Women’s History Month content is also available on the On Her Turf blog at NBCSports.com/OnHerTurf.
- SEASON #7 OF THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW: Hosted by popular soccer personalities Michael Davies and Roger Bennett, THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW returned for a seventh season with big-name guests including John Oliver, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, USWNT defender Crystal Dunn, Arizona Cardinals DE J. Watt, Los Angeles Lakers G Alex Caruso, Wu Tang Clan’s RZA, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, musician Big Boi, legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, musician Niall Horan, U.S. Women’s National Team’s Sam Mewis, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
- NBC SPORTS GOES INSIDE THE MIND SERIES WITH TOP PLAYERS & COACHES: Hosted by NBC Sports’ Premier League commentators, the Inside the Mind interview series has featured one-on-one chats with the Premier League’s top players and coaches including Christian Pulisic, Pep Guardiola, Paul Pogba, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Thomas Tuchel, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Henderson, Heung-Min Son, Jose Mourinho, Jamie Vardy, Carlo Ancelotti, Marcus Rashford, Jurgen Klopp, Marcelo Bielsa, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Frank Lampard.
- MORE SPANISH-LANGUAGE COVERAGE THAN EVER: Miami-based Telemundo Deportes – the exclusive Spanish language home of the Premier League in the U.S. – presented more live matches than ever before across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock. In February, Telemundo Deportes’ Andres Cantorand Manuel Sol called the first-ever live Spanish language sporting event on Peacock (Arsenal-Manchester City).
- A LOOK AT STORIED CLUB LEEDS UNITED RE-JOINING PREMIER LEAGUE: Promoted: Leeds Unitedoffered an in-depth look at the history and tradition of one of English football’s biggest clubs. Featuring interviews with Leeds players both past and present, club owner and chairman Andrea Radrizzani and lifelong supporters, the show explored Leeds’ journey back to the Premier League after 16 years away and spotlights head coach Marcelo Bielsa as one of football’s living legends.
- ON TO THIS SUMMER’S TOKYO OLYMPICS: NBC Sports’ Premier League voices Rebecca Lowe, Arlo White, Robbie Earle, Robbie Mustoe, and Tim Howard will all serve as commentators for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Lowe will serve as NBC’s daytime Olympics host, while White, Earle, Mustoe and Howard will work on Olympic soccer matches.
Local TV Ratings
Following are the U.S. TV markets with the highest average season-long ratings on Premier League telecasts on NBC/NBCSN, and NBC only (note: all NBC games, other than on “Championship Sunday,” started at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT or later, while some NBCSN games kicked off as early as 7 am ET/4 am PT):
Top 15 Local Market Ratings, NBC/NBCSN
| 1. Philadelphia |
| 2. Washington, D.C. |
| 3. Seattle |
| 4. Baltimore |
| 5. San Diego |
| 6. Cincinnati |
| 7. New York |
| 8. Norfolk |
| 9. Minneapolis |
| 10. Chicago |
| 11. New Orleans |
| 12. Las Vegas |
| 13. Tampa |
| 14. San Francisco |
| 15. Hartford |
Top 15 Local Market Ratings, NBC only
| 1. New Orleans |
| 2. Seattle |
| 3. Las Vegas |
| 4. Greenville |
| 5. Cincinnati |
| 6. Fort Myers |
| 7. Washington, D.C. |
| 8. San Diego |
| 9. Norfolk |
| 10. Baltimore |
| 11. Philadelphia |
| 12. Albuquerque |
| 13. San Francisco |
| 14. Houston |
| 15. Chicago |
The 2021-22 Premier League season kicks off on the weekend of August 14.
–NBC SPORTS–