NBCUniversal considers launching sports network: reports
When Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, was awarded the rights to carry NBA games for the 2025-26 season, it made sense that its media properties would beef up their coverage of the sport.
That beefing up might include an entirely new sports-focused channel.
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NBCUniversal is considering launching a sports cable network as early as this fall, according to multiple reports Thursday. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news.
The news comes just after Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, announced a price hike just in time for the new NBA season. The service will stream live NBA games on Monday and Tuesday beginning in October, and on Sunday beginning in January 2026.
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The new network would be offered to cable and satellite providers as part of specialty channel packages, according to the WSJ.
Financing cable sports networks have only become more difficult in the age of cord-cutting, making the timing of the decision to launch a new network curious. Deadline called it an "upside-down move."
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Comcast/NBCUniversal had a dedicated cable sports channel from 1995-2021. First known as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), it rebranded as Versus in 2006 and NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) in 2012. It ceased operations in December 2021, and NBCSN properties were moved to USA Network, Peacock and other channels under the Comcast corporate umbrella.
Four years later, Comcast's desire for a new channel represents a leap of faith in the quality and quantity of its content. Not only will it ask consumers to pay more for Peacock, it will hope that some will subscribe to entirely new cable packages as well.
The corporation already spent billions to acquire the most precious content the NBA has to offer; now, it could look to fill 24 hours' worth of programming around its shiny new toy.
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