The United States Golf Association is keeping the U.S. Open media rights with NBCUniversal while striking a new agreement for its other championships with NBC’s spinoff company, Versant.
In all, the 11 USGA championships (professional and amateur) are staying in the familiar confines of NBC, USA Network and Golf Channel.
The USGA on Tuesday extended NBC’s rights deal to broadcast the U.S. Open through 2032. That deal also includes the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open. All coverage will be streamed on Peacock as well.
NBC has been the USGA’s primary television partner since 1995. In 2015, the USGA struck a 12-year, $1.1 billion deal to team up with Fox Sports, but five years in, Fox paid a lump sum to exit the agreement and the rest of the current deal was transferred to NBC.
Financial terms were not revealed. Puck reported that the annual value will be close to the $93 million the current pact is worth.
New aspects of the extension include the U.S. Open receiving an extra hour of prime-time broadcast on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, the USGA’s main amateur championships — the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Senior Women’s Open, U.S. Adaptive Open, Walker Cup and Curtis Cup — will be carried by Golf Channel. And USA Network will carry roughly 35 hours of live coverage of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.
Versant is the name of the new “spinco” that will be the parent company of most of NBCUniversal’s former cable networks, including MSNBC, CNBC and E! as well as Golf Channel and USA.
In a news release, Versant trumpeted the deal as its first sports media rights acquisition.
“The USGA championships represent some of the most prestigious events in all of golf,” Versant president of sports Matt Hong said in a statement. “USA Network’s reach and Golf Channel’s reputation as the television home of the sport are ideal platforms to bring the USGA championships to golf fans across the country.”
“We’re incredibly proud of the partnership we’ve built over the years with NBCU and Versant, and we’re equally excited to continue building on that legacy throughout our shared passion and dedication — alongside people we’re proud to call our friends,” USGA CEO Mike Whan added in a statement.
–Field Level Media
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