USFL games will appear on NBC platforms when it launches this spring, thanks to a rights deal that the media company signed with the Fox Sports-controlled league. NBC joins Fox Sports as the league’s two official broadcast partners, with Fox carrying 22 games and NBC carrying 21. Sources said that NBC’s deal runs for three years and involves a rights fee. NBC will carry eight games on its broadcast channel, nine games on USA Network and four games on Peacock. Fox will carry 12 games on its broadcast channel and 10 games on FS1. A formal announcement is expected to come later today.
GAINING A FOOTHOLD: For Fox Sports, which controls the league through USFL HoldCo, LLC, this deal adds a level of legitimacy to the league by having another big media company invest in it. In '20, the XFL amassed significant viewership numbers across Fox and Disney broadcast and cable channels, averaging nearly 2 million viewers per game. For NBC, the deal provides programming at a time of year -- starting in April the week after the Masters -- when it has little competition. “April is the perfect moment in the sports calendar to debut the USFL,” said NBC Sports Chair Pete Bevacqua. “We love the spot in the calendar.” NBC also likes the idea of spreading games across three of its platforms -- broadcast, cable and streaming. “It worked for us to have that platform flexibility,” Bevacqua said.
TEST RUN: All 43 USFL games will be played in Birmingham this upcoming season, which will cut down on production expenses. It also will enable Fox and NBC to test different production and programming techniques during the games. “We want to bring the spectators and the viewers even closer to the players,” Bevacqua said. “What can we do as sports betting continues to develop? How can we experiment with the speed of the game? All of these things that we can really roll the dice a little bit and see how aggressive we can be.”
QUALITY ADDITION: Ultimately, NBC decided to do the deal based on the idea that the play on the field will be high quality and will involve well known USFL brands, like the Birmingham Stallions, Tampa Bay Bandits and New Jersey Generals. “What also attracted us to this is that this is real football,” Bevacqua said. “This is going to be real competitive football played at a high level. People are attracted to high quality football. That’s our hope and expectation here.”
