The idea sounded like fun, an adventure even.

The Premier League had helpfully scheduled two important matches in London on Saturday — Arsenal at Chelsea at midday, and Middlesbrough’s visit to Tottenham in late afternoon — and NBC’s lead soccer announcer, Arlo White, sensed opportunity.

Why not, White suggested to his bosses, have his broadcast team work both games? The obvious logistical challenge — navigating London’s labyrinth of narrow lanes and one-way streets in a tight time window — surely could be overcome by smart routes and skilled drivers.

NBC management quickly agreed, but with a twist: Instead of cars, the announcers would battle the traffic, and the clock, on motorcycle taxis.

“My first reaction was: ‘You idiot. What have you done?’ ” White said.

White, it seems, has never been on a motorcycle taxi, but it was too late. So on Saturday, he and his broadcast partners, Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux, will work the Chelsea-Arsenal showdown at Stamford Bridge, west of the city core, and then mount separate motorcycles, taking separate routes, and race into position for the day’s late game at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane, 14 sometimes-long-and-maddening miles to the northeast.