NBC bets on a ‘Legendary February’ as Winter Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA All-Star share the spotlight

The Olympic flame will ignite Friday night in Milan’s San Siro Stadium, bathing one of Europe’s most storied soccer grounds in light as athletes from around the world circle the field and twin cauldrons burn in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Roughly six time zones away, a different kind of handoff will unfold inside NBCUniversal’s control rooms. As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games begin, the company will switch on what it has branded “Legendary February,” a 17-day stretch in which the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl LX and the NBA All-Star Game all land on the same network and streaming platform.

Over a little more than two weeks, NBC and Peacock will juggle the Opening Ceremony at San Siro, the Seattle Seahawks–New England Patriots Super Bowl in California and a revamped NBA All-Star showcase in Los Angeles County. NBCUniversal executives have billed the confluence as “one of the most unique and iconic sports months in media history” and say they have already sold out advertising inventory across all three events.

The cluster is more than a programming curiosity. For NBCUniversal, it is a test of whether one company can still command the biggest live sports audiences in an era of cord-cutting and fragmented attention — and whether its hybrid of broadcast television and a fast-growing streaming service can hold together under maximum strain.

A Winter Games spread across Italy

The XXV Olympic Winter Games, formally known as Milano Cortina 2026, run Feb. 6–22, with some competition beginning Feb. 4. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time Friday at San Siro, rebranded for the Games as San Siro Olympic Stadium. In the United States, NBC will carry the ceremony live from about 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern, with coverage also on Peacock and the network’s digital platforms, followed by an edited primetime replay.

Italy is staging what organizers describe as the most geographically dispersed Winter Games in history, with events taking place not only in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo but also in Alpine venues such as Bormio, Livigno, Antholz/Anterselva and Val di Fiemme. The organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee have emphasized the reuse of existing venues and a “six-village” accommodation plan as evidence of a more sustainable approach after decades of criticism over costly Olympic infrastructure.

At the same time, critics in Europe and within environmental groups have questioned whether widely spread competition sites will require more air and road travel between venues, undercutting climate goals even as organizers tout their reduced construction footprint.

A three-event sprint for NBC and Peacock

For NBCUniversal, those debates form the backdrop to a month dominated by logistics of a different kind. The company’s sports division has spent years planning around a February in which almost every major American professional league and the Olympic movement converge on its air.

The centerpiece is NBC’s long-held U.S. rights deal for the Olympics, which runs through 2032. The Milan Games will unfold on NBC, USA Network, CNBC, Peacock and a suite of digital streams.

Two days after the Opening Ceremony, on Feb. 8, the network will shift its primary focus to Santa Clara, California, for Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, where the Seahawks and Patriots will meet in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Eastern, with the game airing on NBC, Peacock, Spanish-language network Telemundo and NFL+.

One week later, on Feb. 15, the spotlight moves to Inglewood, California, and the NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The league is using the night to unveil a new round-robin format featuring two U.S. teams and one World team, highlighting its deep pool of international stars. The game will be televised on NBC and streamed on Peacock in prime time.

NBCUniversal executives say ad demand has matched the ambition of the schedule. The company has described Milan–Cortina as the “highest-grossing Winter Olympics in company history” and said it sold out commercial inventory for the Games with about a month to go. It has also reported a sellout for Super Bowl LX and confirmed that advertising around the NBA All-Star Game is fully booked, completing what one network sales executive called a “triple sell-out.”

The company has not disclosed pricing details for individual spots or how much of the February ad load was sold in cross-event packages. But it has pointed to internal tools that allow brands to buy across broadcast, cable and streaming placements in a single plan and to shift impressions between them.

Betting on streaming features — and reliability

The stakes go beyond linear television. Peacock, which launched in 2020, is carrying every event from Milan live and on demand and will stream Super Bowl LX and All-Star Weekend. NBCUniversal is treating Legendary February as a showcase for what it calls “fan-first” features intended to keep viewers inside its streaming ecosystem.

Peacock is expanding its Multiview capability, allowing viewers to watch up to four events at once on a single screen. For the Olympics, there are curated Multiview feeds such as a dedicated curling view that displays multiple matches simultaneously. For the first time, the company is rolling out mobile Multiview in beta, with a vertical layout showing four live boxes on a phone screen.

A new feature called Rinkside Live focuses on Olympic ice hockey and figure skating, offering alternate camera feeds such as locker-room corridors, bench areas and coaching corners alongside the main broadcast. A companion product, Courtside Live, will surround NBA coverage, including the All-Star Game, with multiple camera angles and a vertical highlight feed designed for quick viewing.

Peacock is also layering in prediction games, trivia quizzes and interactive schedules that let viewers tap directly into live events and medal rounds. Features introduced during the Paris 2024 Summer Games, including the “Gold Zone” whip-around show and in-app tiles that surface “Can’t Miss” highlights, are returning.

On Feb. 8, the day of the Super Bowl, NBC and Peacock plan to be “4K all day,” offering the game, Olympic coverage and studio programming in 4K high dynamic range. The network has described it as its most technologically ambitious single day of live sports production to date.

Talent stretched across continents

As the technology ramps up, so does the pressure on NBCUniversal’s on-air talent.

Mike Tirico, the network’s lead play-by-play voice, will anchor primetime Olympics coverage from Milan while also calling his first Super Bowl. The Associated Press has described his February workload as unprecedented for a broadcaster. Tirico has hosted every Olympics on NBC since 2018 but has not previously handled the championship game of the NFL season.

Maria Taylor will host the Super Bowl pregame show, then pivot to Olympic late-night coverage and NBA studio duties. Ahmed Fareed and Noah Eagle are splitting assignments that include NBA All-Star weekend, Olympic daytime programming and the network’s new “Sunday Night Basketball” telecasts. “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie and veteran play-by-play announcer Terry Gannon are slated to co-host the Opening Ceremony coverage from San Siro, an example of how NBC is pulling in personalities from its news and sports divisions.

A crowded calendar for fans — and a test for access

For fans, the convergence means an unusually crowded calendar. A viewer tuning in on the second weekend of the Games could flip from a downhill ski race in Bormio to a hockey group-stage showdown in Milan, then to Super Bowl pregame coverage and back to figure skating, often without leaving a single app.

The experience will not be identical for everyone. Viewers with traditional cable packages can see marquee events on their local NBC station or via USA and CNBC, while those without subscriptions may rely on over-the-air antennas. Many of Peacock’s most advanced features require high-speed internet and relatively new phones or smart TVs, raising questions about how evenly the enhanced experience is distributed.

Beyond the broadcasts

The broader cultural moment extends beyond NBC’s platforms. In Santa Clara, Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, becoming the first solo Latino artist to top the bill. In Inglewood, the NBA’s reworked All-Star format — and the likely presence of global stars and veterans such as LeBron James, who has been selected to a record number of All-Star teams — underscores the league’s international reach.

Back in Italy, the Games will introduce new Olympic disciplines such as ski mountaineering and extend women’s cross-country skiing to a 50-kilometer classic race for the first time, matching the men’s distance. National teams will feature NHL players returning to Olympic ice for the first time since 2014, raising expectations for the men’s hockey tournament.

For the International Olympic Committee and Italian organizers, the stakes center on whether Milan and the Dolomites can deliver a memorable, largely reuse-based Games while navigating scrutiny over cost and environmental impact. For NBCUniversal, they revolve around audience numbers, advertiser satisfaction and subscription trends on Peacock.

By the time the Olympic cauldron in Milan is extinguished on Feb. 22, the Seahawks or Patriots will have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy and an All-Star team will have lifted a new NBA exhibition title. NBCUniversal will have data on how many viewers stayed with its broadcasts, how they used its streaming tools and whether the promise of a “Legendary February” translated into something more than a marketing slogan.