NBC Sports’ Rebecca Lowe on coming to Boston, Liverpool’s title chances, and her ‘Game of Thrones’ nickname
"I’d only been in America for a year, but even in that time I knew how important Fenway Park was. It was brilliant."
For the first time, NBC Sports and the Premier League are hosting a “fan fest” event in Boston. “Premier League Mornings Live” is scheduled for a two-day stop on Lansdowne Street and at Cask ‘n Flagon March 30-31.
It will provide soccer fans with a chance to congregate centrally (as opposed to their usual club-oriented bars) to watch a full weekend’s worth of games. On top of that, NBC Sports will broadcast its regular coverage directly from the event.
A central part of the network’s Premier League coverage is English anchor Rebecca Lowe. Since 2013, Lowe has NBC Sports’ Premier League host, directing conversation between analysts before, in-between, and after games. Her presence has been popular with fans and media critics alike, helping NBC grow its soccer audience.
Lowe, a London native who worked in England for over a decade before coming to America, recently answered a few questions about her own story as well as a few other topics.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Will this be your first time to Boston, or have you been before?
Rebecca Lowe: I have. We actually broadcast from Fenway Park for a preseason friendly several years ago for Liverpool vs. Roma. It was amazing. I’d only been in America for a year, but even in that time I knew how important Fenway Park was. It was brilliant.
I’ve been to Boston a couple of other times for fun to see friends. I love the city. I always think it’s one of the most English cities. It’s more English than New York. I felt very at home there when I first visited about 20 years ago. Super excited to come back.
So you have some familiarity with Boston, but how much additional research do you do into a place you’re visiting for Premier League Mornings Live?
RL: I do have some familiarity, but I will knuckle down and read as much as I can, because many people watching are going to know a lot more about Fenway Park than I do at this moment in time. I just need to make sure I have things down geographically, so when I point out what’s where, I’ll know what I’m talking about. You’ve got the interesting parts like the Green Monster and the Cask ‘n Flagon where we’ll be.
What’s been your previous experience with the live shows at different locations?
RL: It’s very different. I mean the warm and cozy studio in Stamford [Connecticut] is lovely, but you know you’re broadcasting for millions [of viewers] at times. And you can’t see them, or sense their excitement, so to be able to be standing literally shoulder to shoulder with people who love the game as much as I do has been brilliant. And you know that there’s an audience out there and a passion. I do run into people out in shops who say they love the show, but when you get a huge group like this – thousands of people together – it sort of hammers home what we’re doing this for.
A decade ago, would you have imagined that you would become a central part of American soccer broadcasting?
RL: I did couple of semesters of high school abroad. I went to a high school in Pennsylvania in 1999, and fell in love with America. I always had in my mind that one day I’d like to live in America. I never saw how that could possibly pan out. Ten years ago, I was just starting my new job with ESPN UK. Though they were UK-based, I supposed joining an American company in the back of my mind was the thought that at least it’s an American link. But I knew they were quite separate entities, and so to answer your question, I never thought that in a million years.
How did you get connected with NBC, and what were your thoughts in the early days of their Premier League broadcasts?
RL: Well I knew that it would be good because of the people involved. Otherwise I never would have done it, because it was a risk for me to leave my home country. I knew there was enough of a passion here for football. It just kind of had to be given to people a little bit more. So I left ESPN at the end of my contract because ESPN UK was no more. It was actually a perfect transitional time. I wasn’t even 100 percent sure I was going to carry on in the business, just because there were certain parts of the job that were just quite thankless that I was doing in the UK. It was just really, really difficult being a female in that world all those years ago. I think it’s very much changed in England now, but at the time it was just tough. But then I got the call from my agent saying NBC had been in touch and they were interested in me for the job. It was one of those rare moments that you’re sometimes lucky enough to get in life. I was worried I was just hearing things that weren’t true, but no, it turned out it was true. It came about that way with NBC, and I haven’t looked back.
Your nickname is the Game of Thrones-inspired title, “Mother of Dragons,” according to Men in Blazers. Have you seen the show?
RL: No, I’ve never seen it. I still haven’t seen it. I know what the kind of show it is, and it couldn’t be less my kind of show. I love [Men in Blazers] so much, and they find it hilarious that I haven’t got a clue what they’re talking about. So it’s not my type of show, and I probably won’t ever watch it. But I’m ok with “Mother of Dragons.” I’ll take it.
It seems like you have a good rapport with Men in Blazers. How often do you see them or interact with them as you’re both at NBC?
RL: Oh, a lot. I mean, I don’t actually see them that much. But we’re in touch a lot. We email and text all the time. I’m really good friends with both of them, love them to pieces. We have a great relationship. They’re such champions of the show and of me in particular, which is humbling. They’re brilliant.
Liverpool have a strong local following in the Boston area. They play Tottenham on Sunday in what will be the weekend’s major matchup. What do you make of their title chances this season?
RL: Yeah, of course they have a strong local following. For a couple of reasons. You get the sense that this season has to be Liverpool’s time. They’ve played so well and looked like they were going to win it for so long. You worry that Manchester City seem to just be so consistent. And City seem to have goals throughout the team, while Liverpool rely very heavily on their front line. That front line, funnily enough, just hasn’t quite operated on the same level as last season, when they didn’t win the league. If they can just get that front line on it in these last couple of games, then the title is theirs. But at the moment it’s out of their hands. Manchester City have a game in hand. I think it’s going to be nip and tuck all the way to the end. I know a lot of neutral fans want Liverpool to win it. The images you will see on television if Liverpool win the Premier League will be something we’ve never witnessed before.
