USGA transfers U.S. Open media rights from Fox back to NBC

The USGA is transferring its U.S. media rights from Fox Sports to NBC, which returns the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open to NBC this year and for the final seven years of the Fox contract.

The transfer is largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down golf for three months and let to a reconfiguration of the major championship schedule. That includes the U.S. Open, which was forced from its traditional Father’s Day spot on the calendar.

The U.S. Open now is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot in New York. Fox Sports also has contracts with the NFL, college football and Major League Baseball, which led Fox Sports to agree to NBCUniversal taking over the contract.

The Associated Press first reported the deal Sunday night.

“Recent events calling for the shift of the U.S. Open created scheduling challenges that were difficult to overcome,” said Eric Shanks, CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, although the USGA said the rights fee it is paid would stay the same for the duration of the contract through 2026. The 12-year deal that Fox Sports signed was worth more than $90 million a year.

One person with direct knowledge of the transfer said NBC would pay just under half of the rights fee through the rest of the contract, with Fox picking up the rest. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because that detail was not publicly announced.

Two other people said the deal began to take shape earlier this month because of the scheduling conflict, and that Fox had contemplated moving the U.S. Open to FS1 because of football conflicts, which was met by objections from the USGA, including its CEO, Mike Davis.

The USGA said in a news release that what began as an exploration of how Fox and NBC could work together through the pandemic-affected calendar led to a broader conversation and ultimately an agreement for NBC to take over the U.S. media rights.

Because of the shutdown, only four events are being played this year — the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur in consecutive weeks in August, the U.S. Open in September and the U.S. Women’s Open in Houston on Dec. 10-13.