NBC Sports has announced that Ahmed Fareed will host Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock for the remainder of the 2023 NFL season while host Maria Taylor is on parental leave.
Fareed’s first week as host will be this Saturday, December 23, with a special edition of Football Night in America @ 3PM ET on NBC and Peacock, leading into NBC Sports’ NFL doubleheader capped by the Peacock Holiday Exclusive game @ 8PM ET between Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills against Austin Ekeler and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Peacock exclusive immediately follows the Holiday Special Saturday afternoon game featuring Joe Mixon and the Cincinnati Bengals vs. T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers @ 4:30PM ET on NBC and Peacock.
Fareed has previously hosted Football Night in America on a fill-in basis and currently serves as a host and reporter on a variety of NBC Sports properties, including B1G College Countdown, horse racing, Premier League, rugby, and Chris Simms Unbuttoned. Recently, Fareed has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita and Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff, was on-site for NBC Sports’ college football coverage at Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, and handles hosting duties for Peacock’s Big Ten men’s basketball coverage, including last weekend’s No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 3 Purdue matchup.
Fareed has had four Olympic assignments with NBC Sports, most recently as a host of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on USA Network. He has also anchored coverage of the past two Paralympic Games across NBCUniversal.
From 2013-18, Fareed served as a host and reporter for NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California (previously Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet California), covering Northern California’s teams: MLB’s San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s, NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, NHL’s San Jose Sharks, MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes and NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders.
