History of NBC Sports in Timeline

NBC Sports is the sports programming division of NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast. It broadcasts a wide range of sporting events across NBC, its cable channels, and Peacock. These events include the NFL, Premier League, NASCAR, PGA Tour golf, the Olympics, Notre Dame football, and more. Following Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast's cable sports networks were integrated into NBC Sports as part of the NBC Sports Group, expanding its reach and influence in the sports broadcasting landscape.

May 17, 1939: NBC Sports Division Founded

On May 17, 1939, the NBC Sports programming division was officially founded, and it is currently owned and operated by NBCUniversal's subsidiary, NBC Sports Group.

1964: NBC Televises the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo

In 1964, NBC televised the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, marking an early milestone in the network's coverage of the Olympic Games.

1972: NBC Televises the 1972 Winter Olympics

In 1972, NBC televised the 1972 Winter Olympics for the first time, expanding its coverage of the Olympic Games to include both summer and winter events.

1980: NBC's Coverage of the 1980 Summer Olympics Scaled Back Due to Boycott

In 1980, NBC had won the broadcast rights to the 1980 Summer Olympics, but due to the United States and 64 other countries boycotting the event after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, NBC substantially scaled back its coverage and experienced significant losses in advertising revenue.

1988: NBC Televises the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul

In 1988, NBC televised the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, marking the beginning of its long-standing association with the Olympic Games, branding itself as "America's Olympic Network".

1998: Dick Ebersol Named President of NBC Sports and Olympics

In 1998, Dick Ebersol was appointed as the president of NBC Sports and Olympics, a significant leadership role within the network.

2000: NBC Ends Broadcast Agreement with MLB

In 2000, NBC chose not to renew its broadcast agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB).

2001: NBC Partners with WWF to Establish the XFL

In 2001, NBC partnered with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to establish the XFL, a new football league that introduced modified rules. NBC shared broadcast rights with UPN.

2001: NBC Enters NASCAR Broadcast and Obtains Rights to the Triple Crown

In 2001, NBC, along with Fox and TNT, obtained the broadcast rights to NASCAR's top two series. NBC televised the second half of the season and alternated coverage of the Daytona 500 with Fox. Also in 2001, NBC secured the broadcast rights to horse racing's Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

2002: NBC Televises the 2002 Winter Olympics

Since 2002, NBC has branded itself as "America's Olympic Network", televising every Winter Olympic Games since the 2002 Winter Olympics.

2004: NBC Reaches Broadcast Agreement with NHL

In 2004, NBC reached a revenue-sharing broadcast agreement with the NHL. Games were to start airing in the 2004-05 season, but the NHL lockout delayed the contract until the 2005-06 season.

2006: NFL Returns to NBC

In 2006, the NFL returned to NBC after an eight-year hiatus, with NBC broadcasting the league's new Sunday Night Football game, along with select postseason games and Super Bowls.

2010: Viewership of the 2010 Winter Olympics

In 2010, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver attracted a total of 190 million viewers, including 27.6 million viewers for the gold medal game in men's hockey.

January 2011: Comcast Finalizes Acquisition of NBC Universal

In January 2011, Comcast finalized its acquisition of a majority share in NBC Universal, leading to the merger of Comcast's sports networks into the NBC Sports Group.

July 3, 2011: ESPN Obtains Exclusive Broadcast Rights to Wimbledon

On July 3, 2011, ESPN acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to The Championships, Wimbledon, ending NBC's 42-year television relationship with the tournament.

January 2, 2012: Relaunch of Versus as NBC Sports Network and Branding Redesign

On January 2, 2012, NBC Sports relaunched Versus as NBC Sports Network and introduced a comprehensive redesign of its branding, including new on-air graphics built around the NBC peacock and an updated logo for the division.

March 18, 2013: NBC Sports Operations Move to Stamford, Connecticut

On March 18, 2013, the majority of NBC Sports and NBCSN operations relocated to a purpose-built facility in Stamford, Connecticut, mainly to utilize tax credits offered by the state.

2013: NBC Sports Obtains Rights to Premier League Soccer

Beginning in the 2013-14 season, NBC Sports acquired the rights to televise Premier League soccer in both English and Spanish, replacing ESPN and Fox Soccer as the league's U.S. broadcasters.

2013: NBC Sports Acquires Rights to Formula One

In 2013, NBC Sports acquired the broadcast rights to Formula One. The majority of the coverage was on NBCSN, with selected races on NBC.

2014: Extensive Coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, over 500 hours of the games were broadcast across five NBC-owned television channels (NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, MSNBC, and USA Network), with 1,000 hours being streamed digitally. The company also announced exclusive digital-only streaming of the 2014 Olympics via the NBCOlympics.com website and the NBC Sports Live Extra app for Android and iOS, including exclusive content such as Gold Zone, Olympic Ice and NBC's Olympic News Desk.

January 1, 2015: Refreshed Design for NBC Sports On-Air Graphics Introduced

On January 1, 2015, NBC Sports introduced a refreshed design for its on-air graphics, featuring a cleaner and brighter visual appearance, in time for the 2015 NHL Winter Classic and NFL playoffs.

May 2015: NBCUniversal Announces NBC Deportes

In May 2015, NBCUniversal announced the formation of NBC Deportes (later renamed Telemundo Deportes), which serves as a Spanish language branch of NBC Sports for Telemundo and NBC Universo.

June 7, 2015: NBC Sports Agrees to Televise The Open Championship

On June 7, 2015, NBC Sports and The R&A reached a twelve-year agreement to televise The Open Championship, Senior Open Championship, and Women's British Open on NBC and Golf Channel, starting in 2017 after NBC lost rights to USGA's championships to Fox.

November 2015: Universal Sports Ceases Operations

In November 2015, Universal Sports ceased operations. NBCUniversal acquired the rights to the content that was previously held by Universal Sports Network. Much of the programming moved to either Universal HD, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra.

2015: NBC's Previous NASCAR on NBC Graphics Package

In 2015, NBC's NASCAR on NBC graphics package continued to be used until August 3, 2025 when it was updated.

2015: NBC Uses Dedicated Graphics Packages for Sunday Night Football

NBC began using dedicated graphics packages specifically for Sunday Night Football during Super Bowl LII in 2015.

March 12, 2016: NBC Sports Broadcasts First Live Premiership Rugby Match

On March 12, 2016, NBC Sports broadcast its first live Premiership Rugby match, featuring London Irish against Saracens F.C. at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

June 2016: NBC Sports Launches NBC Sports Gold

In June 2016, NBC Sports launched NBC Sports Gold, a suite of sport-specific over-the-top subscription services providing expanded coverage of its properties.

July 15, 2017: Universal HD relaunched as Olympic Channel

On July 15, 2017, NBCUniversal relaunched Universal HD as Olympic Channel, a network broadcasting Olympic sports programming that complements NBC's Olympic Games coverage.

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2019: NBC Adopts Elements of Sky Sports for Premier League Coverage

In 2019, NBC adopted elements of its British sibling Sky Sports for its Premier League coverage.

June 29, 2020: NBC Regains Rights to USGA Tournaments

On June 29, 2020, Fox sold the remaining seven years of its contract to air USGA tournaments to NBC, giving NBC the rights to the U.S. Open for the first time since 2015.

January 2021: NBCUniversal Plans to Shut Down NBCSN

In January 2021, NBCUniversal announced its plan to shut down NBCSN by the end of the year, citing increased competition from streaming services and other mainstream sports networks as the reason.

December 31, 2021: NBCSN Shut Down

On December 31, 2021, NBCSN was officially shut down. Its remaining programming rights were transferred to other NBCUniversal platforms, including USA Network and Peacock.

April 6, 2022: MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock Announced

On April 6, 2022, NBC Sports announced a deal to carry a package of Sunday afternoon MLB games on Peacock, branded as MLB Sunday Leadoff, beginning in the 2022 season.

July 1, 2022: NBC Sports to Shut Down Olympic Channel

On July 1, 2022, NBC Sports announced that the Olympic Channel would cease operations as a linear channel on September 30, 2022.

August 18, 2022: NBC Sports Announces Big Ten Conference Deal

On August 18, 2022, NBC Sports announced a seven-year agreement to broadcast Big Ten Conference college athletics across its platforms, starting with the 2023-24 season. The deal includes primetime college football games on NBC and coverage of college basketball and Olympic sports on Peacock.

2022: NBC Unveils Redesign for Sunday Night Football Graphics

During Super Bowl LVI in 2022, NBC unveiled a second redesign for the Sunday Night Football graphics package.

June 2023: NBC Sports Launches Free Streaming Channel

In June 2023, NBC Sports introduced a free, ad-supported streaming channel to expand its content offerings.

2023: Peacock Streams Exclusive NFL Game

Beginning in 2023, Peacock secured the rights to exclusively stream at least one regular season NFL game each season. In 2023, Peacock exclusively streamed a Wild Card playoff game, driving 2.8 million sign-ups and averaging 23 million viewers.

2023: NBC Transitions College Football Graphics

In 2023, NBC transitioned college football (which had continued to use the 2015 graphics) to new graphics derived from the Sunday Night Football graphics introduced in 2022.

June 11, 2024: TNT Sports Announces French Open Deal

On June 11, 2024, TNT Sports announced a 10-year deal with the French Open, concluding NBC Sports' broadcasting arrangement that began in 1983.

June 27, 2024: NBC Sports and Big East Conference Announce Deal

On June 27, 2024, NBC Sports and the Big East Conference announced a six-year deal, set to begin in the 2025-26 academic year. As part of this deal, NBC Sports will broadcast over 60 men's and women's basketball games, including regular season and tournament games.

July 23, 2024: Comcast Confirms NBA Return to NBC Sports

On July 23, 2024, Comcast confirmed that the NBA would return to NBC Sports in the 2025–26 season under an 11-year agreement. NBC and Peacock will broadcast 100 regular season games, including Monday night games on Peacock, regional Tuesday night games, and a package of Sunday night games following the NFL season. NBC will also carry a doubleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, All-Star Weekend coverage, and playoff games. Rights to the NBA Finals will remain with ABC. The agreement also includes broadcasting rights to the WNBA.

September 2024: NBC Sports Regional Networks Adopt New Graphics

In September 2024, the NBC Sports Regional Networks adapted new graphics derived from the Sunday Night Football graphics introduced in 2022, for their own use.

August 3, 2025: NBC Updates Graphics for NASCAR on NBC

On August 3, 2025, NBC began using a dedicated graphics package specifically for NASCAR on NBC during the Iowa Cup Series race that aired on USA Network. This was the first time NBC had updated its graphics for its NASCAR coverage since its return to the network a decade earlier.