NBC Sports Group and Uber Offer Free Rides in Premier League Team-Branded Mini Cooper Countrymans August 14 – 17 in Celebration of the 2014-15 BPL Season Kick Off

More Than 3 Million YouTube Views for “The Return of Coach Lasso”; Coverage Debuts Saturday, August 16 at 7 AM ET on NBCSN with Manchester United v. Swansea City.

NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the 2014-15 Premier League season kicks off three days from today, on Saturday, August 16. Coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET with Premier League Live on NBCSN followed by Manchester United v. Swansea City and continues throughout the season on the networks of NBCUniversal, on the Premier League Extra Time bonus TV package, and streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra.

PREMIER LEAGUE NUMBER OF THE DAY: 3

The return of “football” coach Ted Lasso, a digital short from NBC Sports Group starring actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis, has racked up more than 3 million views on YouTube.

The film also features lead Premier League play-by-play announcer Arlo White and Premier League Live host Rebecca Lowe, who discussed their experience filming with Sudeikis:

Rebecca Lowe: “It was an honor, really. To sit there for a couple of hours next to somebody with such raw talent as he, I’ve never been lucky enough to be anywhere near someone who’s kind of a comic genius and somebody who’s come through Saturday Night Live. Just to witness the way he improvises off the top of his head, the way he takes you in it because none of it was scripted at all…I’m not really good at learning lines.  ‘I’m going to have to get a script, has anyone got one?’ They looked at me like, ‘no script, no, we’re just going to go and do it.’  I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to be able to improvise.’…He’s also an incredibly humble guy and very easy to work with for somebody like me who’s never done anything like that.”

“It was impossible not to laugh.  How they edited out the laughter, I don’t know.  I was at the end of my bit literally pinching my own skin to stop myself from smiling, but I failed on so many occasions.  I would say it was one of the highlights of my life actually I would say.”

Arlo White:  “It was just brilliant to watch a guy like that. Basically he would get a thought in his mind and follow it and if he didn’t nail the line or the punch line initially, he would restart, reset and he would get there.  To watch all this comic stuff just dropping out of his mouth –  it’s amazing they got it down to six minutes because we were there for two and a half hours. I’m sure there will be some outtakes going out soon, drifting through throughout the season, because there was so much great stuff left out there.  It was one of the most entertaining days of my entire life, and just what Rebecca has said, humble guy, lovely guy, lovely to talk to, no airs and graces, no big shot Hollywood star.  He was great.  One of the great experiences of my career.”

NBC Sports Group will once again make all 380 games from the Premier League available in the United States. All games will be preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match shows from the NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

NBC Sports Group and Uber Offer Free Rides August 14 – 17

In celebration of its second season as the exclusive home of the Premier League in the U.S., NBC Sports Group will unleash a custom-designed convoy of Mini Cooper Countrymans – one for each of the 20 Barclays Premier League teams – into the Uber platform, to provide complimentary rides to New Yorkers from August 14 – August 17.

To catch one of these exclusive and free rides, fans in Manhattan can simply enter promo code BPLonNBC in the Uber app for the chance to ride in one of the 20 unique Mini Cooper Countrymans. Once inside, a “Speak Football” app will challenge riders to put their soccer knowledge to the test, as they race against the clock to answer questions from the rules of the game to soccer slang.  Riders will also be invited to enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win two round-trip tickets to England to see a Premier League match during the 2014-15 season.

Fans can find the Premier League Uber rides in Manhattan at the following times:

- Thursday, August 14 from 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm

- Friday, August 15 from 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm

- Saturday, August 16 from 6:45 am – 2:00 pm

- Sunday, August 17 from 7:30 am – 2:30 pm