Mike Florio is that dude who answers questions from Bob Costas on Football Night In America. He’s about to do much more than that.
Florio, the founder of ProFootballTalk, agreed to extend his partnership with NBC. In addition to continuing his segments on NBC’s football show, “Florio will host a live daily show “ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio” on NBCSports.com starting Tuesday, January 4.”
Can you say pilot?
“Mike Florio is a one-of-a-kind talent, and his ProFootballTalk is a must-read in NFL circles. It makes me very happy to have Mike sign on with us for many more years to come,” Dick Ebersol said in a release. The growth of PFT on NBCSports.com, which has kicked off our very successful ‘NBC Sports Talk’ strategy, in addition to Mike’s development into an emerging on-air contributor has been very exciting for all of us to see and I am looking forward to seeing Mike even more with our new ‘ProFootballTalk Live Show’ starting in January.”
The full release after the jump.NBC SPORTS AND MIKE FLORIO AGREE TO EXTEND WIDE-RANGING PARTNERSHIP
“ProFootballTalk Live With Mike Florio,” a Daily Web Show on NBCSports.com, to Debut in January
NEW YORK – December 20, 2010 – NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio have reached a multi-year agreement to extend the growing partnership between the two parties. As part of the agreement, NBCSports.com will continue to host Florio’s wildly-successful ProFootballTalk.com and Florio will continue to provide on-air commentary to NBC Sports. Additionally, Florio will host a live daily show “ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio” on NBCSports.com starting Tuesday, January 4. The partnership extension was announced today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics and Mike Florio, Founder and Editor of ProFootballTalk.com.
“Mike Florio is a one-of-a-kind talent, and his ProFootballTalk is a must-read in NFL circles. It makes me very happy to have Mike sign on with us for many more years to come,” said Ebersol. “The growth of PFT on NBCSports.com, which has kicked off our very successful ‘NBC Sports Talk’ strategy, in addition to Mike’s development into an emerging on-air contributor has been very exciting for all of us to see and I am looking forward to seeing Mike even more with our new ‘ProFootballTalk Live Show’ starting in January.”
“NBC Sports has welcomed PFT into the family, even though we may at times behave like the uncle who poured himself too much eggnog,” said Florio. “We have received continuous support and promotion; more importantly, we have developed many strong relationships, at virtually every level of the organization. 30 Rock is a special place, and Dick Ebersol and Sam Flood have assembled a team of special people. Rick Cordella and Kevin Monaghan, once again, were instrumental in working out the details that extends this great partnership between NBC and PFT, and we hope it will last for many years to come…with or without the eggnog.”
Florio joined NBCSports.com in June 2009 with NBCSports.com hosting, selling and promoting Florio’s innovative ProFootballTalk.com. Since that time, ProFootballTalk.com’s traffic has increased 450 percent and NBCSports.com traffic has increased by 115 percent, becoming the fastest-growing major sports media site on the Internet, according to ComScore.
Florio has been a regular contributor to NBC Sports’ acclaimed Sunday night NFL studio show “Football Night in America” this season and appears in every “Sunday Night Football” post-game show to break down the NFL’s top stories of the day with Bob Costas. Additionally, he has appeared with NBC Sports/Sports Illustrated’s Peter King during halftime of NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame football the last two seasons to discuss timely NFL topics.
Well respected in NFL circles, the New York Times called Florio, “A leading source of information,” while Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer says of him, “He’s tireless. He’s been our watchdog.” And “Sunday Night Football” play-by-play voice Al Michaels told the Los Angeles Times that Florio is, “As wired into the NFL as anyone.”
ABOUT NBC SPORTS TALK: Recognizing that fans value quick, frequently updated news and information with a unique perspective, NBC Sports Digital followed up on the wildly successful launch of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com by forming the NBC Sports Talk franchise to include HardballTalk, ProBasketballTalk, ProHockeyTalk, CollegeFootballTalk, InsidetheIrish and ProGolfTalk.
ABOUT MIKE FLORIO AND PFT: ProFootballTalk.com, which was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Websites, has an unusual background and an unlikely career path for its founder and chief writer, Mike Florio. After earning two engineering degrees from Carnegie Mellon and later graduating from the West Virginia University School of Law, Florio founded PFT in 2001 and operates the site from his office in Clarksburg, West Virginia, his home in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and anywhere else that he can get an Internet connection.
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