Admission for the event is free, but only a few thousand of the pre-registered fans will get into the venueNBC
NBC's EPL studio crew will be in Austin this weekend for the first Premier League Mornings Live of the '19-20 season, and 13,000 people have already registered to attend the event the Scholz Biergarten. EPL title sponsor Barclays will serve as the presenting sponsor for the first time, while fellow EPL sponsors Nike, EA Sports and Panini also will activate during the two-day festival. Admission is free, but only several thousand of the pre-registered fans will get into the venue each day. The net held its first such fan festival in N.Y. in '17 and grew it to three cities -- N.Y., Boston and DC -- last season. There again will be three events this year, with the Austin gathering marking the first time it has taken place away from the East Coast. The pre-registration surge speaks to the growing popularity of not only the EPL, but also the fan festival being used to promote it. The usual "Premier League Mornings" team of Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe will do their show live on NBCSN beginning at 6:00am CT on Saturday. All-time EPL leading scorer Alan Shearer and WWE's Sheamus will appear live, while other celebs like Warriors G Stephen Curry, Texans DE J.J. Watt and Matthew McConaughey will be featured throughout the two days talking about their EPL fandom.
AUSTIN'S POWERS: NBC huddled with its research team and the EPL and its clubs to pick the first destination for '19-20, and all agreed that going to Austin represented an opportunity to capitalize on increasing soccer excitement in the broader U.S. The Texas capital had the nation's top Women's World Cup viewership numbers this summer, while Austin FC will debut in MLS in '21. "We felt really good about Texas, in general, as a hotbed," said NBC Dir of Consumer Engagement Dan Palla. "It wasn't the first obvious choice, but once we really dived into the numbers, it became very realistic. This is a city that is thirsty for sports and has a ton of culture all to its own, and also just a wider interest for the sport." Palla noted NBC will announce the location of the second event during Sunday's broadcast.
