Steve Kornacki to be on ‘Sunday Night Football’ for the rest of the season

MSNBC and NBC News political correspondent Steve Kornacki will appear on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” coverage through the remainder of the regular season, the network announced in a press release Wednesday. 

NBC wrote that Kornacki’s first appearances over the weekend on NBC’s pregame and halftime shows were “met with widespread acclaim.”

It said Kornacki will continue analyzing NFL playoff probabilities during “Football Night in America,” as well as at halftime of “Sunday Night Football.” 

Kornacki, who along with his trademark khaki pants rose to fame on social media during his continuous coverage of the 2020 election results, confirmed on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon that he will continue his football analysis on NBC. 

“So grateful for the chance to keep tracking the playoff race the rest of the way,” he wrote. 

So grateful for the chance to keep tracking the playoff race the rest of the way https://t.co/wyyKgmNBKt

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) December 9, 2020

Kornacki has already received praise and support on Twitter following his first appearance analyzing probabilities from the Big Board on Sunday and was trending on the social media platform that day, along with Rudy Giuliani contracting COVID-19. 

NFL.com’s Judy Battista tweeted Sunday, “Steve Kornacki has to be on every Sunday night from now on.”

Steve Kornacki has to be on every Sunday night from now on.

— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 7, 2020

During his drive home from the NBC studio Sunday night, Kornacki told NBC Sports’s Peter King that he was asked whether he wanted to contribute to football coverage for NBC about a week after the presidential election. 

“This feels like the Road to 270, except this is for the playoffs,” Kornacki said. “We did a segment tonight where we were talking about the Cardinals falling to the eighth spot in the playoffs, and Minnesota moves into number seven, but the model still likes Arizona’s chances over Minnesota.”

“It’s like looking at, ‘Well you know in Michigan, right now, Trump is 12 points ahead—but if you look at the ballots that are still to be counted, where they’re coming from, it says Biden.’ It’s a very similar thing to election night,” he added. “I felt it right away.”

Last month, People magazine included Kornacki among its annual list of the “Sexiest Men Alive,” citing his coverage of the 2020 election, and Twitter users began urging the MSNBC correspondent to donate his battered necktie to the Smithsonian Institution after Kornacki revealed it was held together by a staple while he covered the presidential election.

During the election coverage, which lasted until the Saturday after Election Day this year amid a sharp increase in absentee ballots that led to a days-long count in several states, Kornacki was labeled a “chartthrob” on Twitter, along with CNN’s John King and other news hosts who were responsible for tracking electoral maps.