Tag: NBC Sports

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald joins NBC’s broadcasting team for Cognizant Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational

The European Ryder Cup captain will get plenty of air time.

In its continued search for a replacement in the broadcast booth, NBC has tabbed Luke Donald for the role of lead analyst for the next two PGA Tour events, the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Sports Business Journal was first to report the news and a source confirmed to Golfweek soon after that Donald would join the broadcast.

The official announcement came as expected on Sunday.

Donald, the victorious 2023 European Ryder Cup captain who again will lead the team in 2025 at Bethpage Black, is the latest in a line of current golfers or commentators to serve as lead analyst on NBC’s coverage of the PGA Tour, as the network continues to look for a full-time replacement for Paul Azinger.

Kevin Kisner called the season-opening The Sentry in Hawaii and was on the broadcast at the WM Phoenix Open. Brandel Chamblee commentated at The American Express last month, and Paul McGinley and Curt Byrum also have been in the booth. Jim “Bones” Mackay, Justin Thomas’ caddie, is getting a turn this week at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

SBJ reported Donald is expected to appear Thursday of the Cognizant Classic broadcast on Golf Channel and then join Dan Hicks over the weekend on NBC.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed to this story.

Notre Dame Football: Shakeup Coming to NBC Broadcast Booth This Fall

Big News Regarding the Notre Dame on NBC TV Booth

The last two seasons have seen Notre Dame home football games on NBC announced by play-by-play voice Jac Collinsworth.

Collinsworth is a Notre Dame graduate and was an up-and-comer when named to succeed Mike Tirico, who left the booth to take over NBC’s Sunday Night Football call when legendary Al Michaels left for Amazon

According to Dan Marchand of The Athletic, Collinsworth is out for this fall and replacing him will be longtime NBC Sports voice Dan Hicks, who happens to be married to Notre Dame graduate and veteran sports reporter/anchor Hannah Storm.

According to the report Jason Garrett will remain as the color commentator for Notre Dame on NBC.

No offense to Collinsworth but going from Tirico to him felt like getting spit in the face.  Collinsworth didn’t scream “big time” in any capacity, something that is done by more flight miles and experience – not by having a known last name.

Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay to serve as NBC lead analyst at Mexico Open at Vidanta

Justin Thomas is skipping the Mexico Open, which frees up his caddie for some TV work.

Justin Thomas is skipping the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open this week but his caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, will be busy doing a first for TV.

Mackay will serve as the lead analyst for NBC Sports on the telecast of the Tour event South of the border, the first time an active caddie has ever filled that role.

NBC Sports parted ways with Paul Azinger late last year as his contract was set to expire at the end of the season and the network has been rotating voices ever since. PGA Tour pro Kevin Kisner, who handled duties at The Sentry and WM Phoenix Open, former European Ryder Cup captain and SkySports/Golf Channel commentator Paul McGinley did so at the Hero World Challenge, Curt Byrum took a spin at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee worked The American Express, all taking turns as the lead analyst during NBC telecasts.

Mackay, though, isn’t interested in the full-time job and made it clear, via an NBC spokesman, that his upcoming TV appearance shouldn’t be interpreted as him throwing his hat in the ring for the job. (Efforts to reach Mackay for comment were unsuccessful before publication of this story.) With Thomas taking the week off after playing four of the last five events on Tour, Mackay is available but he’s devoted to caddying for Thomas, who he has worked for since returning to caddying full-time in 2022. He was on the bag for Thomas when he won the 2022 PGA Championship and most recently this week at the Genesis Championship, where Thomas missed the cut.

2024 Genesis Invitational
Caddie Jim Mackay at the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

Mackay spent a stretch of 25 years as caddie for Phil Mickelson before joining NBC in 2017 as an on-course reporter and quickly becoming one of the best in the business in that role. Mackay has continued to dabble in doing TV for NBC when Thomas has been off, including for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship last year.

A spokesman for NBC Sports said that Mackay will walk as an on-course reporter on Thursday and be part of a three-man booth for the remaining three rounds with veteran pro Brad Faxon, and Steve Sands and Dan Hicks rotating as host.

The Mexico Open marks the first of seven straight weeks that NBC will broadcast PGA Tour events, including the Players Championship. NBC is mum about who else might get an opportunity as it tries out different voices and take time in selecting a permanent replacement. Tune in next week to find out who will be next to get a spin in the big chair.

Q&A: Kevin Kisner on roasting players at WM Phoenix Open, who he’d like to see in the booth & why he’s OK with the PGA Tour partnering with Saudi Arabia

“Saudi Arabia is involved with almost everything in the world. That whole argument is kaput in my opinion.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Kisner always has talked a good game.

After being widely praised for his TV commentating debut for NBC/Golf Channel at The Sentry in Hawaii, Kisner is back behind a mic this week at the WM Phoenix Open. He’ll take part in a four-man booth paired with host Dan Hicks and alongside Steve Sands and Brad Faxon, flipping odd and even holes. On the weekend, he’ll be stationed at TPC Scottsdale’s iconic par-3 16th alongside Smylie Kaufman and 20,000 rowdy fans and said he just hopes he can hear himself. If ever there was a week that Kisner could openly roast players as only he can do, this is the week.

“That’s what I’m definitely doing,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Kisner wishes Boo Weekely could get a turn in the booth — wouldn’t that be something! — riffs on the PGA Tour’s new business moves and how everyone thinks they’re part of the media these days. That and more from Kis in a rollicking Q&A that ain’t no hobby.

The 2025 All-American Bowl will break from a long-standing decision, allow juniors to play

The All-American Bowl will allow juniors to play in their game.

The All-American Bowl announced this week that it is set to allow high school juniors to play in their game. This breaks a quarter-of-a-century of tradition where the bowl marked the final game in the high school career of many of the nation’s top players.

Now, the game will feature top junior and senior players.

The longest-running high school football all-star game, the All-American Bowl is played every year at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game airs annually on NBC, which is the owner-operator of the event.

One of the challenges of bowl games is keeping up with the landscape of college sports. Blue chip recruits, especially the high-level types who play in all-star games like the prestigious All-American Bowl, are likely to decide well before the game in January.

And with an ever-increasing number of players enrolling early, some players opt not to play in these postseason games because they are already on campus and enrolled in college.

“Given the changing landscape at the collegiate level, our senior participants are graduating high school earlier and enrolling in and attending college as early as December. As a result, the All-American Bowl is pivoting to now include top juniors for the upcoming 2025 All-American Bowl,” said Jon Miller, President, Acquisitions and Partnerships of NBC Sports in a press release. “This change will allow more top juniors to make their college declarations on network television.”

The All-American Bowl, first played in 1994, has featured a number of players who went on to star in college and the NFL. Notable alumni of the game include Antonio Alfano, Odell Beckham Jr., Stefon Diggs, Trevor Lawrence, Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey, Tim Tebow and Vince Young.

The bowl game created the concept of the commitment table, with players making their college decisions publicly known during the game’s broadcast. Presumably with juniors now playing in the game, the commitment table could gain a new level of importance as players continue to move up the timeline for their decisions.

Brandel Chamblee to serve as NBC Sports lead analyst for 2024 American Express coverage

A familiar face will be in the booth.

As NBC Sports continues its search for a full-time analyst to work alongside Dan Hicks in the booth for its coverage of the PGA Tour, a familiar name will be in the seat at this week’s American Express in La Quinta, California.

Brandel Chamblee will assume the role of lead analyst for this week’s coverage. Terry Gannon will have play-by-play duties, as the duo will lead the coverage on Golf Channel and Peacock.

Four-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Kisner was in the booth at The Sentry, and longtime analyst Curt Byrum took over last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii as NBC Sports looks to fill the role formerly occupied by Paul Azinger.

Paul McGinley called the action at the Hero World Challenge in early December. Chamblee is the latest in what appears to be a rotating cast of characters, but he has appeared plenty before for NBC Sports, including at the Open Championship.

Chamblee has become a figurehead in the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf debate with his staunch defense of the PGA Tour, and he even got into a social media debate in recent weeks about commercial load for events on television.

Golf Channel and Peacock will air live coverage of the American Express from 4-7 p.m. ET from Thursday to Saturday.

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Watch: Smylie Kaufman calls golf shots from kayak in Pacific Ocean at Sony Open in Hawaii

Sit back, relax and enjoy this hilarious clip.

Seven years ago, Smylie Kaufman and Jordan Spieth had a rough time on a kayak in the Pacific Ocean.

Following their first round of play in the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii, the duo took a kayak out on the water near Waialae Country Club in Honolulu to do some fishing. However, the waves had a different idea.

There’s some epic video of the two being tossed around, losing a lot of the gear and personal items they had on the kayak. Nevertheless, they were laughing the whole time and it made for incredible footage.

On Friday during the second round of the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii, Kaufman had his chance at redemption. He got back into a kayak, with a microphone in hand on the Golf Channel during live coverage, and called golf shots on the par-3 17th, which runs next to the ocean.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this hilarious clip.

Another mock draft sends Vikings a QB in the first round

Michael Penix Jr. to the Vikings? Connor Rogers thinks that’s a good possibility

With both the NFL regular season and the College Football Playoff wrapped up, media outlets have begun their NFL draft content push. That means that mock drafts are going to be coming at us fast and furious, and we’re going to be exposed to a number of different thought processes for what the Minnesota Vikings may do.

Some think the Vikings need to shore up their offensive line. Others think the defensive trenches need some work. Most think the Vikings need to find a replacement for quarterback Kirk Cousins. That’s the strategy NBC Sports’ Connor Rogers took with his latest mock draft, sending the Vikings former Washington Huskies QB Michael Penix Jr. Here’s what Rogers had to say on the selection:

The College Football Playoff was a rollercoaster for Penix Jr., who looked like the best quarterback in the country against Texas and then came back down to earth against Michigan.

More importantly, he put out two years of great tape in the Huskies offense. His arm challenges every layer of the field and specifically outside the numbers. For a player viewed as a late Day 2, early Day 3 pick before the season, I’ve heard a ton of buzz about him over the last two months indicating he’s on the rise in this draft.

With the uncertainty surrounding Cousins given his age, contract situation, and his Achilles’ injury, quarterback is likely to be a popular route for mock drafts to take heading into April’s NFL draft. Penix makes a lot of sense for the Vikings — if his medical history checks out. That’s going to be a key factor in where he ultimately winds up going.

Kevin Kisner tells hilarious behind-the-scenes stories while grading his NBC, Golf Channel debut

Kisner joined Smylie Kaufman’s podcast to detail his first broadcast appearance and had some great stories to tell.

NBC’s lead golf producer Tommy Roy has been interested in Kevin Kisner as a broadcaster for some time and told him the opportunity was available whenever the fan-favorite was ready to quit playing.

After a quiet fall, Roy approached Kisner at Sea Island in Georgia and called him a week later to get his schedule so they could find a time for Kisner to try out on the mic.

“I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to Honolulu to play so I can do Maui,’” said Kisner. “(Roy’s) like, ‘Alright, perfect. I’ll see you there.’ I was like, what? Next day I know I’m talking to a guy about a contract.”

The four-time PGA Tour winner made his first of two appearances for NBC and Golf Channel at last week’s PGA Tour opener, The Sentry, and received rave reviews from media and fans. Kisner, 39, will also be on the call for the WM Phoenix Open later this year. Before making his first start of the new Tour season at the Sony Open in Hawaii this week, Kisner joined fellow player-turned-commentator Smylie Kaufman on his podcast to talk about his broadcast debut.

Kisner said he called his wife because he didn’t think he could do the job after watching what happened behind the scenes for an hour during Thursday’s first round but stuck it out and joined the broadcast on Friday. He was funny, told great stories about the players and brought a new element to a broadcast that has grown stale over the last few years.

“From what I heard, having a guy that’s been in there close with the guys recently, it helped. I’ve got stories on all of them because I’ve been around, now some of these young guys I don’t have any stories on,” Kisner said. “If (Akshay Bhatia) went and got hot (Sunday), I’d have probably just sat there twiddling my thumbs the whole day. I don’t have any dirt on him yet. But it was nice to have some of the guys I know well rolling and that I could pull from my old memory bank.”

Watch the full podcast here.

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If Dolphins-Chiefs is on Peacock, could USC-Notre Dame get the same treatment?

Peacock is getting one of the best NFL wild card games. Maybe high-end USC games aren’t safe from Peacock after all.

The NFL playoff schedule was released on Sunday night. One by one, the network assignments and game windows were revealed. One game was announced for Sunday afternoon on Fox Sports. Another game was announced for Saturday afternoon on NBC Sports. The Sunday Night Football game was announced for NBC. The Monday Night Football playoff game was then revealed. One by one, we learned which games were going to be on certain networks. We wondered which game was going to become the Peacock game, the first NFL playoff game shown exclusively on NBC Universal’s streaming service without a traditional over-the-air television outlet.

A lot of people (myself included) went into Sunday thinking that the worst wild card game would be the Peacock game. Surely the NFL wouldn’t put a top-tier game in the streaming-only silo.

How naive I was.

Of course the NFL was actually going to do precisely that and make more consumers inclined to pay up for NBC’s streaming service. After all, NBC paid the NFL a lot of money for the Peacock game. The league wanted to return a favor.

So it is true: The Peacock game won’t be Browns-Texans, Steelers-Bills, or Eagles-Bucs (three games which Americans wouldn’t be hugely upset about missing). The Peacock game — this Saturday night in prime time — will be the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs against the Miami Dolphins. It’s one of the more attractive games featuring one of the NFL’s most popular and interesting teams. This is a game everyone will want to see, but it will be on Peacock.

If Peacock can take away a big-time NFL playoff game, surely a huge USC Big Ten game or a USC-Notre Dame game in South Bend (in 2025 or 2027) might get the Peacock-only treatment. It’s certainly something USC fans have to wonder about heading into a new conference under a new network arrangement.

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