• by Wayne Friedman , December 21, 2023

Amping up its powerful NFL franchise for the network, NBC is offering less -- advertising, that is -- in its first commercial-free fourth quarter of an NFL game in a Christmas holiday-season football game airing exclusively on Peacock.

The entire game -- featuring the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers and airing on Saturday, December 23 -- will result in around 40% less advertising overall. 

Three presenting sponsors -- Capital One, Hyundai and Walmart -- are contributing efforts to make it happen, with a brief “branded moment” starting in the fourth quarter followed by no TV commercials for the entire period.

Program content replacing those ads -- about 12 minutes in length -- will include special game features, as well as analysis/updates by NBC’s “Football Night in America” studio updates with brief, branded messaging from the three brand sponsors.    

NBC believes this effort will draw and engage viewers. “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,” says Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships forNBCUniversal, in a release. 

The game will also feature what NBCUniversal says is its first-ever NFL “shoppable” moment -- “a non-intrusive QR code” connected to Walmart’s Holiday Hub. 

Thirty-second commercials in NBCU’s “Sunday Night Football” on the NBC Television Network are estimated this season to be priced at around $830,000.