NBC Sports makes its first foray into doing an NFL alternate broadcast on Saturday when it puts the matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs into the realm of the Madden video game universe.
The Madden altcast will be streamed on Peacock with the main broadcast airing on NBC, beginning at 1 p.m. EST.
It is the first time NBC has done an alternate broadcast of an NFL game. CBS has done at least one game on Nickelodeon since the 2020 season, while ESPN/ABC have the “ManningCast” as well as animated presentations featuring “ The Simpsons ” and “ Toy Story.”
Amazon Prime Video also has “Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats” during “Thursday Night Football.”
“It’s ironic that you want to make the video game as much as actual live play as possible and now you are doing the opposite of trying to make the real game look like the video game,” said Josh Helmrich, the NFL's senior director of media and Next Gen Stats.
The altcast on Peacock will blend video game elements — such as Madden 25 graphics, route trees, player cards, button icons on eligible receivers and player ratings — with live action. GenuisIQ will provide real-time data via the league’s Next Gen Stats.
There will also be times when animations from the video game — such as touchdown celebrations — will be used instead of live action.
NBC has used the “Sunday Night Football” games the last two weeks as test broadcasts to make sure all the technology was working as well as build cohesion in the studio in Stamford, Connecticut, with the announcers doing the game.
Paul Burmeister will handle the play-by-play with Madden NFL expert Kurt Benkert and six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Ochocinco providing commentary. Ochocinco will serve as a real-time player “ratings adjuster.” Henry Leverette, who won the Ultimate Madden Bowl championship ring in February, will also be part of the broadcast.
Burmeister noted earlier this week that there will be more hard core football schematic chess match talk on the altcast compared to what might happen on a traditional football broadcast.
“I’m really excited to toe that line and weave this in to show how much parallel the game has to the real game itself,” Benkert said. “I think will resonate really well with the younger audience and with people that are used to seeing it in the video game that way.”
While the Madden video game is known for the high camera view above the quarterback, that will be used only for replays or to show formations before plays. The traditional sideline camera will be used the most since that better shows route trees and other features most associated with the game.
In an added twist, Ochocinco will be able to adjust a player's rating depending on what happens during the game.
The Texans (9-5) have clinched the AFC South while the AFC West champion Chiefs (13-1) are looking to remain the conference's top seed. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce were two of only six players to begin the season with 99 overall ratings in the Madden game. Houston's highest-rated players in Madden are offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (95) and running back Joe Mixon (93).
Eleven players on the Texans and Chiefs rosters have a Madden rating above 90.
The Madden altcast also takes on personal meaning for NBC Sports Executive Producer of NFL Fred Gaudelli, who was Madden's producer during the final seven years of his broadcast career. Madden joined ABC's “Monday Night Football” in 2002 before Madden and Gaudelli moved to NBC for the start of “Sunday Night Football” in 2006.
“The one thing John held fast is you couldn't put something in the video game that you couldn't do in a real game,” Gaudelli said. “I had some memorable times picking his brain about the advent of the video game and what led him to it. He has been foremost in my mind as we’ve all tried to strategize what this should look like on Saturday.”
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