The cable TV universe will apparently shrink a little at year”™s end, when the plug will be pulled on the Stamford-based NBC Sports Network.
In an internal memo to staff obtained by the Associated Press, NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua wrote: “At the conclusion of 2021, we have decided that the best strategic next step for our Sports Group and the entire Company is to wind down NBCSN completely.”
The channel, which reaches approximately 80 million households, launched in 1995 as the Outdoor Life Network, was rebranded as Versus in 2006, and adopted its current name when Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBCUniversal in 2011.
That same year, NBCSN acquired the rights to NHL games for $2 billion; that 10-year contract expires following the current 2020-21 season.
NBCSN also has a $4.4 billion rights package with NASCAR that expires in 2024, as well as a six-year agreement with the English Premier League, valued at about $1 billion. That deal is up this year.
The network moved some of those soccer games to Peacock, NBC”™s streaming service, last year. Its coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs and NASCAR races will reportedly move to The USA Network.
USA is available in 86 million homes, compared with about 80 million for NBCSN.
“This will make USA Network an extraordinarily powerful platform in the media marketplace and gives our sports programming a significant audience boost,” Bevacqua said. “We believe that the power of this offering is the best long-term strategy for our Sports Group, our partners, and our Company.”
The network”™s shuttering will not impact its regional sports networks, which operate independently of NBCSN.
