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NBC Sports

Winter Olympics Score Ratings Gold

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STAMFORD – (Wire Service Report) – NBC Sports struck ratings gold this month with its coverage of the Milan Cortina Olympics on NBC stations and the streaming platform Peacock. The network averaged 23.5 million viewers to become the most watched Winter Olympics since Sochi in 2014, while marking a 96% ratings improvement over the 2022 Beijing Games.

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Highlight moments across the two weeks of Olympic coverage included the opening and closing ceremonies, Alysa Liu’s gold medal in women’s figure skating and gold medals for both the women’s and men’s ice hockey teams, each with victories over Canada.

“The Milan Cortina Olympics proved once again that the American audience will gather in large numbers over 17 days to experience this unmatched global competition,” NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel said in a statement.

The viewership data, through Nielsen, is through Thursday and subject to revision.

NBC reported that all 15 days when competition took place saw at least 20 million viewers per day. Peacock and NBCU digital platforms averaged 3.3 million viewers daily.

According to Nielsen, Milwaukee led all markets with a 13.7 rating and a 49 share. That was followed by Minneapolis, Fort Myers, Fla., Pittsburgh and Dayton, Ohio.

The Milan Cortina Olympics were part of a busy sports month for NBC, which included Super Bowl LX, the most-watched show in the 100-year history of NBC and the second-most watched show of all-time across any network. The month also included the most-watched NBA All-Star Game since 2011.

–Field Level Media

New Awards to Headline “Men in Blazers” Branded Multicasts

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Men in Blazers Media Network, an independent soccer-focused media company based in North America, will expand their content offerings in conjunction with NBC Sports and the Premier League.

“The American Football Awards” will honor the Premier League footballer for the 2022-23 season as voted on by the growing audience of American fans. It’s a bit like the “Golden Globes of Soccer,” as seen through the foreign fans, as opposed to the Hollywood foreign press.

The accompanying “American American Player of the Year” will recognize the best American player in English Football. The first awards show will be seen on NBC on Sunday, May 28, following the Premier League Finals.

The new awards show will be hosted by Robbie Earle, Rebecca Lowe, and famed Men In Blazers guru in Roger Bennett. The winners will be announced and both will give their acceptance speeches on the show, directly addressing the American Premier League audience.

“For decades, the United States has seemed like the Final Frontier for Football, like Space was for Captain Kirk,” said Bennett, the Men in Blazers Co-Founder. “In the last decade, that has changed. The sport is surging. The audience is passionate and knowledgeable, and this award is both a reflection of their growing interest, and how seriously the Premier League teams and players take our fanbase.

“It is our hope this award will become the Ballon D’or for a U.S. audience, and are thrilled to partner with NBC Sports who have been such a driver of the growth of football in this nation as we continue to champion the growth of the sport in the U.S. on every level to the biggest audience possible,” added Bennett.

The finalists and winners were selected by thousands of fans across the nation.  Men in Blazers aka MiB will debut the women’s ““American Football Awards” this fall after the World Cup and conclusion of the NWSL season, with a unified, platform coming in 2024.

“The ‘American Football Awards’ continues Men in Blazers’ expansion as a leading pop culture, sports and entertainment platform,” added Bennett.

In March, MIB significantly added to its content lineup with talent and shows that now include: “Here We Go” with Fabrizio Romano, “The Road to the Cup” with Becky Sauerbrunn,  “VAMOS” with Herculez Gomez, and “Men in Blazers Live and Dangerous” with Sam Mewis on Twitch leading the Women’s World Cup 2026 programming, in addition to the widely followed and successful original MiB content.

What started as a weekly TV Show – now in its ninth season with NBC Sports and its accompanying Podcast affiliates  – has gradually become a 24/7 flourishing and integrated media network serving every aspect of global Futbol – both men’s and women’s – with a full slate of programming and talent across a variety of channels including a co-production partnership with Twitch.

All of this comes ahead of what will be an even bigger window of exposure for football interest and growth in the U.S., with the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the 2024 Copa America and the 2026 World Cup also scheduled for North America.

The continued interest in both the business and consumer engagement with MLS, the NWSL, US Soccer,  and other emerging properties. Men in Blazers partnered with Twitch prior to the 2022 Men’s World Cup, executing a strategy that fused “sidecasting” games live with celebrity guests by day, live “theater shows” by night, all streamed LIVE on Twitch. They were later combined with a daily cascade of podcasts.

The format nominated for Sports Emmy, had a total of six million unique viewers across the 44+ hours of live streams throughout the tournament. The content was amplified, cross-platform on social to create a 24/7 commentary which drove unprecedented numbers for Men in Blazers and its partners — reaching a high of No. 4 across all sports podcasts in the USA during the time-period.

The Men in Blazers Media Network has grown to be the largest independent soccer-focused media company in North America, covering the sport year-round, as it focuses on Premier League, Champions League, the US National Teams, NWSL, and other top leagues around the globe.