In an unprecedented move for a primetime host that will also burn an unprecedented amount of jet fuel, NBC’s Mike Tirico will pull international double duty and anchor coverage of the Winter Olympics from Beijing before flying to Los Angeles to host the Super Bowl pregame show next month.
Since this is the first time the two events will overlap, NBC decided to get creative with the face of the network’s sports coverage and will deploy Tirico as the host of the Olympic primetime show in Beijing from February 3 through the 10th. Then, the 55-year-old will fly 6,200 miles to LA and continue his Olympic hosting on the 11th from a special set outside SoFi Stadium. After hosting the primetime Olympics show again the following night, a Saturday, Tirico will anchor the five-hour Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show on February 13. Following Super Bowl coverage, he’ll return to the special set to host Sunday night’s Olympic competition.
“It is a career highlight to host the biggest sports broadcast day any media company has ever undertaken,” Tirico said. “The foundation of our Olympic and NFL productions are the incredible people behind the camera. It is their planning and excellence that make this possible. I have never been more excited for a work project and to quote the great Ernie Banks, ‘Let’s play 2.’”
Based on COVID-19 and other factors, NBC will decide over Super Bowl weekend where Tirico will be for the rest of the Olympics — which conclude on February 20 — once his hosting duties conclude on Super Sunday.
“They’re both dream assignments, so who needs to sleep at that point? The one thing you want to make sure is you can do it the right way,” Tirico told The Associated Press. “I think from an editorial standpoint, we’ll still be able to deliver the same coverage and that’s got to be at the forefront of this. And in some ways, I think it will help enhance this unique weekend to be at the Super Bowl site, as we’re part of that buildup during our coverage of the Olympics.”
An employee of NBC Sports since July 2016, Tirico has called primetime NFL games for 15 consecutive years and was the voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Football for a decade. This will be the third time Tirico will serve as NBC’s primetime Olympics host after previously fulfilling that role at Tokyo Olympics over the summer and working in the same capacity at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
“Smooth, informational, funny and opinionated when needed, Tirico simply is the best no matter what sport he is announcing,” The Associated Press wrote in January 2021. “The more Tirico the better.”
If you agree with that sentiment, prayers answered starting on February 3.
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