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(Courtesy image, Graphic by The Desk)

The trend of presenting alternate National Football League (NFL) telecasts will continue next month when Comcast’s NBC Universal and Peacock get in on the action.

On December 21, NBC Sports will produce an alternate broadcast of its match-up between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs that will stream on Peacock. The broadcast, called the “EA Sports Madden NFL Cast,” will blend video game elements into live action, and promises to be “an immersive, data-powered live football experience that injects Madden NFL’s unique brand elements as animated overlays.”

The alternate telecast comes amid similar experiments by Paramount Global and the Walt Disney Company, which have reimagined on-field action happening in real-time through the use of computer animation. On December 9, Disney will produce an alternate football broadcast featuring characters from “The Simpsons” during its match-up between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys.

This weekend, NFL and Madden are combining real sports with virtual gaming in a first-of-its-kind immersive experience.

Peacock, EA Sports and Genius Sports will host the Madden NFL Cast during the Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs game on Saturday, December 21 at 12pm Et, blending traditional live football coverage and video game elements.

Announced during half-time of Thursday’s Miami Dolphins-Green Bay Packers game, the third in NFL’s ‘John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration’, the data-powered live football experience will use Genius Sports’ next-gen data and AI platform GeniusIQ to combine real-time data insights with fully branded animations, delivering an immersive viewing experience.

Streaming exclusively on Peacock, the Madden NFL Cast will feature a dedicated commentary team with NBC Sports’ Paul Burmeister handling play-by-play; former NFL quarterback, YouTuber and Madden NFL expert Kurt Benkert utilizing graphic overlays to discuss and predict play options; and six-time Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl...

Can NBC make an NFL broadcast as dynamic and interactive as a videogame? The Comcast-backed media company will soon try.

NBC Sports plans to live-stream a match-up between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, December 21 on its Peacock broadband hub that will blend live action and videogame elements from EA Sports’ popular Madden NFL franchise, which has long aimed for realistic depictions of football action. The “alt-cast” will also feature player ratings and interactive data, just like the videogame does.

“This first-ever Madden NFL Cast marks a new milestone as Peacock’s first sports alt-cast,” said Fred Gaudelli, the executive producer of NFL for NBC Sports., Gaudelli worked for seven seasons with John Madden, the inspiration behind the game, and a legendary coach and analyst, during stints at both ABC and NBC.

NBC will join the ranks of sports-media outlets tinkering with tailored simulcasts of games...

One of the biggest video game franchises of all time is getting its own NFL alternative broadcast.

EA Sports’ Madden NFL 25 will be the basis for a new altcast called the Madden NFL Cast being produced by NBC Sports. The alternative broadcast will cover the Dec. 21 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, and will stream on Peacock (NBC will air the regular commentary).

The Madden NFL Cast will be the first alternative broadcast produced exclusively for Peacock. NBC Sports joins Disney/ESPN, Prime Video and Paramount/CBS in producing a new alternative NFL broadcast meant to tap into a demographic that is of interest to the NFL.

NBC and the NFL announced the Madden NFL Cast at halftime of Thanksgiving’s Miami Dolphins-Green Bay Packers game.

The Madden NFL Cast will blend video game graphics pulled straight from the game with live action. “Featuring live EA Sports Madden NFL 25 graphics,...