NBC Sports’ go big or go home mentality for major events hits full speed this week as the company prepares to host Super Bowl XLIX from Phoenix on Sunday. Armed with the company’s “most comprehensive Super Bowl promotional effort ever” with Super Bowl-related content set to run on the likes of NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, E!, Bravo, Syfy, The Weather Channel and Telemundo and a social media campaign that will offer “around-the-clock” coverage across all of NBC Sports’ social media platforms, the buildup for the game (with coverage set to kick off starting at noon on NBC) is molding anticipation for Sunday’s game with experts predicting record audiences.

Cynopsis Sports spoke with NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus about the state of the company, its Super Bowl strategy, lessons learned and, of course, “deflategate.”

Lazarus on the state of NBC Sports: It’s been about three years since we brought the group together and rebranded NBC Sports Network. Now, we continue to grow all aspects of our business and align all of our brands together. When you look at our portfolio, we have the big event stuff as well as the ancillary businesses and they are growing as well. The four legs of our stool are the broadcast network, the two national cable networks in Golf channel and NBCSN, the regional sports networks and then a growing and successful digital business amplified by all the digital rights we have acquired. All four are thriving. Golf Channel is coming off 2014 tied for its best year ever. NBC Sports Network last year showed tremendous growth over 2013. Our big events, include the Olympics, Sunday Night Football, and our Notre Dame and golf broadcasts on NBC continue to be strong and a lot of what we have is exclusive. We are in the exclusivity business. We don’t aspire to do what everyone else is doing. There is not a day that we wish we were someone else.

On lessons learned in 2014: The Sochi Olympics was a big part of our year. What we learned from that while live and event television is important, we also had to curate the content for a time period when people would be able to watch. The big lesson is that you need to be live when you can, but curating is still important so people are able to watch. Of course, for the 2016 Olympics, we will be live all the time because it will take place in Rio.

On the new deal for boxing: There was a time when the heavyweight champion of the world was the most popular man in America. You think back to Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Tyson. There was a time when the best division in boxing was welterweights and everyone would talk about Hearns, Hagler and Leonard. We believe that our partnership with Al Haymon and his stable of fighters, which now numbers around 170, and putting boxing back on television is good for fans and will reenergize the sport. Having quality matchups instead of one-sided fights – which is what Al has committed to us – would be good for the sport and the sport would be good for us. If we can work with Al to promote some of the fights we may not have, the big PPV fights, that’s also good for our parent company at Comcast.

On NBC getting in the PPV game: Of course our company is already very much in it via Comcast. But for us as the purveyor of it, probably not. But we would like for it to be successful.

On preparing for the Super Bowl: All of our non-game activity has been led by Sam Flood, which will include six hours of pregame and shows on Friday and Saturday night as well. For game preparation, you will see content that will be important for fans and not just content that is pure football because the Super Bowl is bigger than just football. It is a pop culture event. We want to tell those stories about the city, the teams and the players. It is a marriage between art and commerce. I think we as a company are the best at the art form of creating those stories and covering the game. I’m biased obviously and would assume that Sean McManus and Eric Shanks would say the same, and they should.

I think we give marketers really good opportunities to showcase their brands to what would be roughly 115-120 million people who watch the game. I do, however, believe that many more people than that watch the game and that the current system don’t allow for accounting for parties, out-of-home viewing and those things. I believe the Super Bowl is actually underreported as far as how many people are watching.

On the evolution of sponsors: I think they put a lot of energy and creativity into their spots and that’s important. For the game commercials, I think it is smart how over time how sponsors are revealing what they are going to do and show their commercials in advance. I don’t think that impacts the fact the people still want to see them run in the context of the game and that is smart. In terms of pregame, sponsors are taking the approach of how they can integrate their brand into the telecast and be tied to the glow of the Super Bowl and still be authentic to the brand. I think that art form is where our producers work really well with the marketing community to do that. 

On “deflategate”: A big part of our job is finding the right editorial balance in any sport. You go back to the Olympics and examine what our editorial responsibility as it relates to the Russian LGBT issue that people were talking about or the Russian potential (at that point) aggression against the Ukraine. Our job as a sports broadcaster is to cover the events as they unfold and report on them as they are affecting the events. We are not a “news organization,” especially while we are doing an event but we take very seriously our responsibility to cover news that impacts these events.

As for deflategate, I still don’t think everyone knows the facts. Everyone is talking about the game, it is getting a tremendous amount of play. But if you were to talk to anyone in football about it, we are talking about the Super Bowl for the wrong reasons right now. I would certainly prefer that we be talking about it for the pomp and circumstance, the game, the quality of the teams, the athletes and the traditions of the teams and the cities but we are faced with another situation here and I think we have been very balanced in reporting what we know are facts and will continue to do that. That said, I think it is still undetermined what actually took place.

In addition, the NHL unveiled its slate of outdoor games for 2016. The 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will pit the Canadiens/Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, on Jan. 1, 2016. Meanwhile, the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will feature two games next year. Sunday, Feb. 21 will see Blackhawks/Wild at TCF Bank Stadium on the Univ. of Minnesota campus. On Feb. 27, the Red Wings/Avalanche square off at Coors Field.

Just days after announcing his retirement from full-time NASCAR racing after this season, Jeff Gordon already has another gig in the works and will join Kevin harvick and Brad Keselowski as analysts for FOX Sports’ coverage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year. They will be joined in the booth by play-by-play host Adam Alexander, analyst Michael Waltrip and reporter Vince Welch for broadcasts on FOX and FOX Sports 1. This season will see FOX Sports 1 carry 22 of the 23 races with the Talladega event on the broadcast channel. Alexander, along with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series play-by-play announcer Mike Joy and Brian Till will fill in for Steve Byrnes on NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races until Byrnes returns from his medical leave of absence. Meanwhile, Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds begin their 15th season in the Sprint Cup Series booth as FOX NASCAR kicks off its first year of a new 10-year rights agreement.

Meanwhile, after a 20-year career as a golf analyst for CBS Sports and Golf Channel, Peter Oosterhuis announced that he will be retiring from broadcasting. “Golf has been a big part of my life ever since I was a little boy growing up in England and I thank CBS and Golf Channel for allowing me to continue in the sport after my playing days were over,” said Oosterhuis. “I feel it is the right time to step away to focus on things in life that I have always wanted to do.”

FOX Sports booked its Super Bowl plans, slating FOX Sports 1’s studio programs America’s Pregame and FOX Sports Live offering extended segments from a remote set outside the stadium in Glendale. Joel Klatt hosts with analysts Donovan McNabb, Randy Moss and Dave Wannstedt, breaking down matchups and storylines. On Friday, the group will be joined by FOX NFL Sunday analysts Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, in addition to lead NFL on FOX game analyst Troy Aikman. FOX Deportes, will present Central FOX and FOX Deportes en Vivo from Arizona starting Saturday, Jan. 24.

NBA TV offers up a doubleheader tomorrow night, including a NBA TV Fan Night presented by Sprint matchup pitting the Bulls/Warriors at 10:30p.The night tips off with the Cavaliers/Pistons at 7:30p.

Speaking of Turner properties, truTV ordered a pilot for Shaq Inq. (working title) starring Shaquille O’Neal. The workplace comedy will be “loosely based on the wild and frenetic business empire” of O’Neal, who is executive-producing the show with Mike Tollin with the series being produced for truTV by Mandalay Sports Media.

MLS’ Real Salt Lake is entering a new local television deal with Sinclair Broadcasting, according to the league that will see KMYU carry 26 of 32 regular-season games for the club. Sinclair’s American Sports Network will produce the games and also showcase them on Sinclair-owned stations in Las Vegas, Boise and Reno.

ESPN Audio is rejiggering its national weekend lineup. Eight new shows are being added to the national lineup, including the two-hour espnW Presents: Spain & Prim on ESPN Radio, Marty & McGee, Dave Rothenberg Show, Dickerson & Hood, Robin Lundberg, Coachman & Bretos, Ian Fitzsimmons and NBA Lockdown: Insiders.

Speaking of radio, CBS Sports Radio laid out programming plans for the Super Bowl, with programs set to be heard on more than 330 stations nationwide starting today. Highlights include The Jim Rome Show live from the Phoenix Convention Center throughout the week (also broadcast on CBS Sports Network), along with The Doug Gottlieb Show. In addition, On Saturday, CBS Sports Radio weekend host John Kincade will broadcast a special Saturday edition of The JK Show at 10a.

Meanwhile, three second-tier sponsors are ending their relationships with the World Cup. The AP writes that Castrol, Continental and Johnson & Johnson are all letting their current deals expire with FIFA, with the trio among eight second-tier FIFA partners “who collectively paid $524 million to be associated with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.”

Thuzio, a marketplace for sports and celebrity talent, entered a partnership with AEG and STAPLES Center to become the sports and entertainment presenter’s talent and appearance partner for events and other initiatives affiliated with AEG. The deal allows Thuzio to provide AEG and STAPLES Center sponsors, Suite Holders and Premium Seat Holders access to its Talent Booking Services. In addition, Thuzio Executive Club events will offer business entertainment options for STAPLES Center and its tenants, sponsors and other partners. "We’re excited to make our Talent Booking Services and Thuzio Executive Club available to one of America’s busiest sports and entertainment venues, not to mention all of their premium partners and global sponsors," said Thuzio CEO Jared Augustine.
 
Kick It 3v3 youth soccer festivals is ending its run at the ESPN Sports Complex at Disney World and will bring the event to Vail in a new partnership as it celebrates its 25th anniversary season. The 3v3 World Championships will be held July 31-August 2, 2015.

NBC Sports Group saw its digital site score their best non-Olympic month ever in December, according to comScore. Platforms saw 38.9 million uniques, for a 97% rise over the prior year. In addition, NBCSports.com marks its best month ever for the second consecutive month, delivering 21.4 million uniques, up 65%.

Meanwhile, ESPN upped its game again at X Games Aspen, adding camera-carrying drones to its coverage of the event. X Games, using the cutting-edge technology to cover Snowboarder X and snowmobiling events. The company drew approval with several entities, including the Federal Aviation Administration, which approved the use of drones for commercial use last year although the channel had to keep the drones inside a "closed-set environment."

NBC Sports will be utilizing Avid Everywhere and implementing a fully integrated Avid MediaCentral workflow for its upcoming broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix, according to Avid. “The Super Bowl is among the most-watched live broadcast television events in the world, and we’re thrilled that NBC has embraced Avid Everywhere to power its operations,” said Louis Hernandez Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Avid. “With the Avid MediaCentral Platform, we are working hand-in-hand with NBC to provide the highest levels of collaboration, support, efficiency, and integration that are critical to producing such a high-profile broadcast.”

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: From what city did the Kansas City Chiefs relocate? Answer: Dallas. Kudos: Mitch Burg-Impact Communications/Israel; Marc Wollis-NBC Sports Group/NY; Jon Latzer-CBS Digital Media/NY; Art Salisch-HEARST Television/NY; Don Gorski-Westwood One Sports/NY; Seth Goldberg-Syracuse University/Syracuse; Tom Wetzel-MMSI/Warwick; Greg Stout-Comcast Spotlight/Indianapolis; Larry Wahl-Orange Bowl Committee/Miami Lakes; David F. Baer-120 Sports/Chicago; Steve McNair-KUBE TV/Houston; Gretchen Brady-KDAF/Dallas; Kevin Wicker-Chiefs Football Network/Mission; David Hauptman/Denver; Brienne Chance-G/O Digital/Phoenix; Dave Sikula-TOOVIA.com/Sunnyvale; Nick Monroe-Monroe Photography/San Diego; Doug Kelly-Foster Farms Bowl/South San Francisco; Willie Price-American Forces Network (AFN)/Riverside.

Roberta Caploe: Editorial Director @robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

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