Golf’s national championships will remain on NBC through 2032.
The USGA and NBCUniversal announced an extension Tuesday of their media rights, meaning the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, among other championships, will remain on NBC and its networks.
“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 through our shared passion and dedication – alongside people we’re proud to call our friends,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan. “The value NBCU and Versant place on the USGA brand is evident, and this agreement enables the USGA to further advance our mission to positively impact the game, while providing the most expansive coverage and broadest reach to showcase USGA championships.”
Versant is the new media company spun out of Comcast, which includes USA Network and Golf Channel. USA Network will provide coverage of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, while Golf Channel will carry coverage of the U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Senior Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Adaptive Open, Walker Cup and Curtis Cup.
NBC will continue to be the broadcast home of the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, and Peacock will stream all USGA programming airing on NBC and will provide exclusive streaming coverage of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.
When the new deal with the USGA begins in 2027, the U.S. Open will have an additional hour of primetime coverage on NBC on Thursday and Friday. Sports Business Journal reported that those windows will feature top players, which has not always been the case late in the opening rounds.
“We always peak at the very end of a broadcast for golf,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella told Sports Business Journal. “That time between 7-8 is a great time for golf.”
Puck reported last week that while NBCUniversal was closing on the deal, other entities including Netflix, ESPN, CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery also expressed interest in acquiring the media rights.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as USGA, NBCUniversal Extend Media Rights Through 2032.
