Fox has sold the media rights to NBC Sports to the United States Golf Association, including the US Open, with the agreement running for years until 2027.
NBC owns the Golf Channel and has the rights to the PGA Tour.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, said Comcast’s NBC Universal is paying significantly less than Fox had been paying for its deal that started in 2015 as it increased content on its new national cable channel. Fox Sports 1. Disney’s NBC and ESPN had previously shared the rights until Fox surpassed them with a $ 1.1 billion deal that set the annual price at $ 93 million. Now he’s back on NBC. The WSJ said the new NBC deal is only slightly more than the $ 37 million that ESPN was paying six years ago, citing people close to the talks.
The US Open will return to NBC starting this year’s championship on Winged Foot scheduled for Sept. 17-20. It was postponed from its original June dates due to the coronavirus pandemic.
By adding the USGA championships, NBC’s ownership rights are granted to the US Open, Open Championship, Players Championship and Ryder Cup, and is associated with the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour and NCAA.
“Adding these prestigious USGA events to our already incredibly deep golf business, led by our long-term association with the PGA Tour, as well as The Open Championship and Ryder Cup, positions us as absolute leaders in the field of golf,” NBC Sports President Pete Bevacqua said. said. “This agreement is advantageous to all parties, including NBC Sports, Golf Channel, Peacock and USGA, but also Fox Sports, and we thank them for working with us to complete this transaction.”
Fox ended up with a host of sports in the fall, including college and professional soccer.
