The 2026 Winter Olympics are already underway, drawing fans from around the world with skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, and other events. Meanwhile, NBC is gearing up for Super Bowl LX, one of the biggest single-day sports events in the U.S. For the network, it’s a huge opportunity, but for the reporters, it’s a nonstop, hectic schedule that will test their stamina.

Since February 6, NBC’s Milan‑Cortina Winter Olympics coverage has begun in Italy, with the Opening Ceremony drawing 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. But on Sunday, February 8, the network juggled both Olympic broadcasts and the Super Bowl on the same day. That included morning and afternoon Olympic coverage, then Super Bowl pregame, the game itself, and Olympic primetime shows later at night.

To make it all happen, NBC reportedly went to extraordinary lengths.

Sports insider Joe Pompliano shared on X, “It looks like NBC chartered two Bombardier Global 7500 private jets to transport Mike Tirico and others from the Super Bowl to the Olympics. They left California at 1:30 am local time and will land at 9 pm in Milan — roughly 6,000 miles and 10+ hours of total travel time.”

Although NBC has not officially announced the specific schedule, the difficulty of broadcasting two of the largest sporting events in the world, and the human effort involved makes it all the more impressive.

And the focus of this twofold assignment is Mike Tirico.

He presented NBC live on the eve of the Super Bowl and then at the site of the Super Bowl in Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California, followed by leading NBC Primetime live during the coverage of the Olympics in Milan. This made him one of the few broadcasters to cover two giant sporting events on the same day.

Kaylee Hartung was also part of NBC’s Super Bowl reporting team and will appear as a reporter for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Maria Taylor, too, is listed as NBC’s late-night Olympics host after the Super Bowl. But NBC is not doing this simply because of logistics or contracts; there is a strategic purpose behind it.

Why NBC is betting big in the Winter Olympics?

NBC has held the U.S. media rights to the Olympics for decades, and recently, they extended them through 2036 with the International Olympic Committee. Meanwhile, NBC’s long-standing NFL contract gives it the rights to Super Bowl LX. The network’s timing of both events isn’t accidental.

“There’s a reason why you certainly want Winter Olympics and our turn at the Super Bowl to happen at the same time,” Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of Comcast Corporation, told reporters.

“It’s always that way. That’s the way you want to go to the advertising market and not have somebody else selling against you. It just happens that we got the NBA All-Star Game, so it just happens that our ad team has to sell 75%…”

And this all came after a highly successful run at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Now, NBC is aiming to build on that momentum with the Winter Games in Milan‑Cortina.

Molly Solomon, NBC Olympics president and executive producer, told Sports Media Watch that the network has the “amazing building blocks” in place.

Brian Roberts, chairman and co‑CEO of Comcast, emphasized the prestige of the Olympics for NBC.

“When we had the privilege to buy NBCUniversal, I think we look at it as the absolute holy grail of what this company can do, what we can do for the nation, and the honor and privilege and responsibility to do the best job anybody could do.”

And to NBC, February is an opportunity to show that no television can match its coverage, its aspirations, and its commitment to sport.