Think your new year is off to a busy start in the opening days of 2026? Then you’ve probably got tons in common with NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico, who’s about to round the end of January heading into the most bonkers and jam-packed February broadcasting schedule we’ve ever seen.
The leading voice of Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock is barreling straight towards a trio of epic dates with sports destiny — and judging by his energized and amped-up outlook during a recent exclusive interview with NBC Insider, he probably wouldn’t want it any other way.
It’s a good thing, too, because Tirico’s definitely got a ton of (admittedly awesome and fun) sports stuff piling up on his plate. Between the end of the NFL regular season, the February 1 start of the NBA on NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball, Super Bowl LX on February 8, and a two-week stint from February 6-22 as the leading prime time host for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games, he’s poised to serve as viewers’ front-row sportscasting seat for what might just be an entire lifetime’s worth of memorable athletic moments.
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“Lock in and prep” — Mike Tirico’s game plan for covering the Super Bowl, Sunday Night Basketball, and the Winter Olympics this February
How does a guy go from regular-season NFL coverage to launching an all-new Sunday Night Basketball show to lending a hand for the Olympic Opening Ceremony, to keeping pace with the NFL Playoffs and being on the main call for Super Bowl LX — all to turn around and host a daily prime time series that covers every big Winter Games moment (oh, and just for good measure, let’s go ahead and throw in a weekly NBA announcing schedule that doesn’t let up for any of the above)?
It’s all about being ready and prepared, says Tirico — and not just in a last-minute, crash-course kind of way, but by continually staying on top of the sporting events he loves, no matter where they happen to fall on the calendar.
“Well, I think it’s an accumulation of preparation that happens all year long, right? — Whether it’s covering the world figure skating championships last year in Boston, or paying attention to what’s going on in these winter sports as they’re going through their regular seasons, if you will,” Tirico shared with NBC Insider.
“Certainly, in the NFL, you’re knee deep in the NFL for 20 weeks during the year. So we’ll get two teams, hopefully, that we’ll be seeing; that we have a familiarity with, and we’ll go from there. But I’m going to take that week after the Conference Championship games played on Sunday [January 25]. That Monday to Friday, I’m just going to lock in and prep, and just make sure everything is in place for the following three weeks.”
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When it comes to preparation for so much athletic awesomeness, that’s hardly what we’d call even a sliver of downtime. But it’s a window that Tirico says affords him just the opportunity he’ll need to make that vital pivot from the NFL postseason to the launch of a new NBA show for NBC Sports… as well as all the Legendary February sporting action that lies just beyond.
“…That’s probably my goal, is to come out of that Friday before I do the NBA on Sunday, February 1st to start our Sunday Night Basketball franchise,” he explains. “I want to make sure I’m ready for the whole run at that point — and then everything else will just be added on as the days go on.”
Doesn’t he make it sound all just a little too easy? Maybe… but for an NBC Sports veteran with oodles of experience and a clear love of the game, it’s a broadcasting formula that just works.
Believe it or not, Tirico isn’t missing a beat between now and the start of his own Legendary February: You can catch him back in his NFL sportscasting seat on Sunday, January 18, when the Los Angeles Rams visit the Chicago Bears to determine one of the two Divisional Round Playoff winners who’ll advance to the NFC Conference Championship game. Tirico will be on the call alongside Cris Collinsworth and Mellissa Stark on Sunday Night Football, set to kick off live from Soldier Field in Chicago at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.