MIKE TIRICO

Although NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” featured new faces in the booth and production truck before the season started, the broadcasts continue to deliver at a high level.

Drew Brees is officially done at NBC Sports after one year.

ESPN is near the goal line of landing a top-tier talent to join the “Monday Night Football” booth.

NBC’s Mike Tirico began the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics by saying “just over six months ago in Tokyo, we said we were about to embark on an Olympics unlike any other.

NBC prime-time Olympic host Mike Tirico will have a shorter stay in Beijing than originally planned.

Super Sunday will become Super Gold Sunday for NBC.

Al Michaels finally gets to call a Super Bowl in Los Angeles and will tie the late Pat Summerall for the most by a lead announcer on television.

Most of NBC’s announcers for the Winter Olympics in Beijing are going to be stationed stateside.

NBC will not be sending its announcers and most hosts to the Beijing Olympics due to continued concerns about rising COVID-19 cases worldwide and China’s strict policy about those who test positive.

The Associated Press will hand out its individual NFL awards on Feb. 10 at NFL Honors in Los Angeles.

NBC’s Mike Tirico, who was Jon Gruden’s partner for seven years on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” expressed disappointment with Gruden’s behavior after more emails came out on Monday showing a repeated pattern of racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.

Every two years, when an Olympics convenes, its organizers harness billions of dollars to make sure the entire affair is tightly, carefully scripted.

The willingness of athletes, led by Simone Biles, to talk about the pressures they face as elite athletes on the Olympics stage, has forced a look at how NBC presents the Games to the public.

Maria Taylor has joined NBC less than a week after her contract with ESPN expired.

NBC Sports is in the final year of its contract with IndyCar.

Jimmie Johnson will make his Indianapolis 500 debut this season but in the television booth and not on the racetrack.

File-This Feb. 7, 2010, file photo shows New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrating with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Saints' 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game in Miami. Brees, the NFLs leader in career completions and yards passing, has decided to retire after 20 NFL seasons, including his last 15 with New Orleans. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)NEW YORK – Drew Brees is headed from the Superdome to the Golden Dome. The quarterback great joined NBC Sports on Monday, a day after announcing his retirement from the NFL. Ad“We know that Drew will apply the same work ethic and continuously positive attitude to everything he touches at NBC Sports," NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said in a statement.

Pressure is building on Japanese organizers and the IOC to explain exactly how they plan to hold the Tokyo Olympics in the midst of a pandemic. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)U.S. viewers will get to watch the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics live. Since Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York, interested U.S. residents will be watching the July 23 ceremonies on NBC at 7 a.m. EDT, 4 a.m. EDT in Los Angeles. Molly Solomon, the executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production, said the global significance of gathering in Tokyo during the pandemic, as well as changing viewing habits, were the main factors in deciding to air the opening live in the morning for the first time. Solomon said the past nine months since the Tokyo Games were postponed have been spent refining coverage plans, including reducing how many people will be taken to Japan.

But the Indy 500 is the Indy 500, Tirico continued, and there's never been one like this year. There will be no Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade on Saturday. I often say the most magical moment, at least for me, is the 30 minutes leading up tot he green flag at the Indianapolis 500 each year, Boles said. This is the race event that even the pandemic isn't going to stop, said Leigh Diffey, who will handle the race call once the green flag drops. For the Indy 500 to happen this year is just reward for the series and our production group, people you will never know their names or faces.

Robin Smullen, left, and Juan Barajas Saldana walk Belmont Stakes hopeful Tiz the Law around the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., Thursday, June 18, 2020. Now, the ownership group that buys just one or two New York-bred colts a year is back to try again with Tiz the Law. Tiz The Law has been the best 3-year-old since January basically, and he remains that, retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey said. Knowlton hasnt seen Tiz the Law race in person since Feb. 3 in Florida because of the pandemic. With all the changes for horses and humans, Tiz the Law remains a calming presence.

(AP Photo/Jenna Fryer)Fans who had been starving for live sporting events had their appetites somewhat sated last weekend. Network executives knew the first weekend with multiple live events would draw good numbers but for the most part they exceeded expectations. It is also only the second weekend this season that Bundesliga matches were viewed by over 100,000 fans on Fox Sports 1. Fox's strong weekend continued with the NASCAR race at Darlington, South Carolina, averaging 6.32 million. Tirico anchored the golf coverage from his home in Michigan, while Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon called the NASCAR race from Charlotte.

It was the first live golf on television since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf and other sports on March 12. We dont want them having to wear masks and be doing what weve been doing for the last number of months. McIlroy criticized Trump on the McKellar Journal podcast this week for politicizing the pandemic and says he would not play golf with him again. Tirico raised McIlroys name as being among those who have played with Trump and what they talk about on the golf course. I guess the ones that dont, I dont get to see as much.

Rory McIlroy delivered the money shot Sunday as live golf returned to television for a Skins game that revealed plenty of rust and raised more than $5 million for COVID-19 relief funds. Down to the last shot, McIlroy barely stayed on the shelf left of the pin, measured at 13 feet. The final carryover gave McIlroy and Johnson $1.85 million for the American Nurses Foundation. Fowler's seven birdies were worth $270,000 in a separate fund from Farmers Insurance, while McIlroy made four birdies in regulation worth $175,000 and Wolff had three birdies for $135,000. The last live competition on TV was March 12, the first round of The Players Championship.

(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)Live golf returns to television on Sunday, and it might not look entirely familiar except for the players. The only rake on the golf course will be carried by a PGA Tour rules official. Farmers Insurance is pledging $1 million toward birdies and eagles that goes to healthcare workers, and PGA Tour Charities has an online donation program during the telecast. Within the golf community, the golf course is a big part of why people are excited about it, McIlroy said on the podcast. The PGA Tour has had 10 tournaments canceled or postponed since the last one completed, the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tirico is one of many announcers who has had to trade the press box for a home office. Tirico will be in the corner of his office in Michigan, some 1,300 miles away. The soft return of golf includes testing for COVID-19, thermal readings, social distancing and limited access. Rich Lerner from Golf Channel is doing play by play, with NBC analysts Paul Azinger and Gary Koch. You could get a lot of people become Matt Wolff fans if he has the game he showed in Minnesota, Tirico said.