NBC Sports plans to shut down NBCSN channel
STAMFORD — NBC Sports Group, one of the city’s largest employers, plans to shut down its NBCSN cable channel by the end of the year — but the reorganization will not result in any local job cuts, according to city officials.
The decision to wind down NBCSN was disclosed in a staff memo sent Friday by NBC Sports Group Chairman Pete Bevacqua that was obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media. He cited a plan for the cable USA Network — which is another division of NBCUniversal — to start carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming, including NHL Stanley Cup playoff games and NASCAR races “as part of a larger transition” within the organization.
“At the conclusion of 2021, we have decided that the best strategic next step for our Sports Group and the entire company is to wind down NBCSN completely, with key elements of NBCSN’s programming moving to USA Network and, in some cases, (streaming service) Peacock for 2022 and beyond,” Bevacqua said, in part, in the memo. “This will make USA Network an extraordinarily powerful platform in the media marketplace and gives our sports programming a significant audience boost. We believe that the power of this offering is the best long-term strategy for our Sports Group, our partners and our company.”
NBC Sports is headquartered at 1 Blachley Road, yards from Interstate 95’s Exit 9 and near the Stamford-Darien line. It employs more than 900 in Stamford.
“NBC Sports has been a longstanding institution in our city and has been a competitive employer in Stamford’s active job market,” said Stamford Mayor David Martin. “I have spoken with officials at NBCU (niversal) regarding today’s announcement and learned there will be no job losses here in Stamford as a result of the announcement.”
A message left for an NBC Sports spokesman inquiring about the broadcaster’s response to Martin’s comments was not immediately returned.
In the memo, Bevacqua noted that NBC Sports would be producing multiple new programs for Peacock and other platforms in Stamford.
“This transition, combined with our robust portfolio of assets, including Golf Channel, The Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, (regional sports networks), SportsEngine, GolfNow, digital, audio, sports betting and gaming, puts us in an even stronger position as leaders in the sports media space and to continue to grow our business,” Bevacqua said.
During the past year, NBC Sports has already reorganized some of its operations. Those changes have included relocating from Orlando, Fla., to Stamford most of the television production for the Golf Channel, another of NBCSN’s sister cable channels.
“This decision is more akin to shifting money — or programming — from left pocket to the right pocket. It works on many levels,” said Josh Shuart, director of sports management at Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. “USA Network has a longer history and is well positioned to absorb the content that previously would be found on NBCSN.
“NBCUniversal is clearly interested in also continuing to build up Peacock, which in my opinion is still a bit underwhelming compared to many other major streaming channels. Eliminating NBCSN on the surface can seem a bit shocking, but you have to consider that this reorganization actually creates greater efficiency and opportunity under the main (parent company) Comcast umbrella.”
In 2013, NBC Sports opened its approximately 300,000-square-foot complex at 1 Blachley Road, which had formerly housed manufacturing for the Clairol hair color brand.
NBC Sports was recruited to Connecticut through the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s First Five Plus program launched under then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. It received $26 million in loans that were tied to targets for creating and retaining jobs. The company itself has invested more than $100 million in its Connecticut operations, according to a 2019 DECD report on First Five.
Since then, the Stamford headquarters has served as the studio hub for a range of programs, including NBC Sports’ coverage of the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, English Premier League soccer and Notre Dame college football. The Blachley Road campus also plays a crucial role in domestic production for NBC Sports’ coverage of the winter and summer Olympics.
Founded in 1995 as the Outdoor Life Network — and later renamed Versus, before taking its current name — NBCSN became known for its NASCAR, NHL and Premier League coverage, along with its Olympics telecasts. Available to tens of millions of homes, it consistently ranked as the second-mostwatched cable sports channel, after ESPN.
Last year, NBCSN missed out on a major viewership boost when the 2020 summer Olympics were rescheduled to this year in response to the coronavirus crisis. The 2018 winter Olympics lifted the channel to a record first-quarter prime-time viewership average of 569,000 viewers, more than doubling the first-quarter 2017 result.
The end of NBCSN will not affect NBC Sports’ most-watched show, “Sunday Night Football,” which is carried on the NBC broadcast channel. SNF is on track to finish as the No. 1 prime-time show for a record 10th straight year, attracting an average audience of about 17 million in the 2020 NFL regular season.
“I know the men and women at NBC Sports have created immense value to millions of people across the nation and will continue to provide value even as the industry adapts to these challenging times,” said Thomas Madden, Stamford’s director of economic development.