• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, December 21, 2023

In a first, a whole quarter during NBCUniversal’s Dec. 23 “Peacock Holiday Exclusive” broadcast of the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers game will be entirely free of traditional ads. 

At the top of the fourth quarter, an announcement will tout the upcoming first-ever NFL “commercial-free experience,” thanks to the three sponsors.   

The network worked with Walmart and two other sponsors, Capital One and Hyundai, to integrate content takeovers and game features in place of standard ads during the game’s last quarter. 

The branded content will feature “Football Night in America” studio updates and analysis from the sponsors. A custom spot produced by NBCU’s Creative Partnerships team will feature “Football Night in America” analysts Chris Simms and Devin McCourty looking to Walmart for last-minute gifting needs.  

The game, on the NBC network and the Peacock streamer, will also feature a shoppable “experience” using a QR code to drive viewers to Walmart’s Holiday Hub to buy last-minute Christmas presents (delivered in 24 hours). The interactive ad will be integrated leading into gameplay during the game’s second quarter. 

“The power of live sports is more prevalent than ever, and at NBCUniversal, we not only have the scale of our broadcast platform, but we now can reach an entirely new audience through Peacock,” said Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal. “With this one-of-a-kind sponsorship environment attached to our first-ever exclusive Peacock NFL game, we are able to connect an untapped set of consumers to our marketers, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our partners at the NFL for trusting us to creatively launch this groundbreaking format."

The Bills/Chargers match, broadcast at 8 pm ET, will immediately follow a “Holiday Special” Saturday afternoon game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:30 pm ET on NBC and Peacock. 

On Jan. 13, Peacock will host the first exclusively livestreamed NFL playoff game — an NFL Wild Card Playoff in primetime. NBCU will also be the first media company to present three NFL Playoff games in a single weekend.  

The Peacock exclusive Wild Card game and a regular-season game will be broadcast on NBC stations in the two competing team cities, and be available on mobile devices with NFL+. The NFL is the only sports league that presents all regular-season and postseason games on free, over-the-air television in local markets.