NBCSN

NBCSN or NBC Sports Network was a of the United States in  dedicated to to sports coverage.

The channel belonged to NBC Sports Group, owned by. Launched in 1995 under the name of Outdoor Life Network (OLN) with programming dedicated to, Hunting and. In the early 21st century, OLN gained popularity due to its in-depth coverage of the. In 2006, the channel changed its name to Versus.

In 2011,, the original owner of the TV channel, acquired a larger share of , resulting in a merger of the sports division of NBC with the hitherto Versus. On January 1, 2012, the channel had its name changed to NBC Sports Network and later, NBCSN.

In January 2021, NBCUniversal announced that the channel would be closed by the end of the year.

As Outdoor Life Network
The channel was originally launched as Outdoor Life Network on July 1, 1995. The name was licensed from magazine, so its programming focused on, hunting and. At the beginning of its operations, the channel reached more than 1 million American homes.

In 1999, OLN acquired the broadcasting rights to the Tour de France for $3 million. The coverage of the event made the channel more and more popular, especially after the great success of the American cyclist. In 2004, the channel devoted more than 344 hours of programming to the Tour.

Overall, the Tour de France brought a great audience to Outdoor Life Network by expanding the channel's market to over 60 million American homes through satellite and digital TV. However, experts in cycling and television criticized the OLN due to a "special focus" on the American cyclist, making jokes like "Only Lance Network".

In 2005, following the announcement of Lance Armstrong's retirement, Outdoor Life Network debuted new programming, including multiple reruns of the TV show Survivor. According to experts, this was an attempt by the channel's directors to maintain a good audience. The idea would be to bring in audiences who couldn't follow the show in its original time slot on CBS. In the same period, the channel acquired the rights to the Dakar Rally, America's Cup, and Iditarod.

OLN and the NHL
In May 2005, ESPN rejected a $60 million offer to renew its contract with the and the league rejected another proposal jointly with NBC. Knowing that the was also looking to renew its broadcast rights for that year, it was speculated that Comcast would use the Outdoor Life Network to create a competition with ESPN.

In August 2005, after negotiations, the Bristol broadcaster decided that it would not compete for the NHL rights with Comcast, which automatically meant that the OLN would sign a $200 million contract to broadcast the hockey league on TV to Cable. According to statistics released by, the channel was watched by more than 75 million Americans the following year.

As Versus
In April 2006, Comcast announced that it would rename the Outdoor Life Network channel to Versus in less than 6 months. The change took place in September 2006 and aimed to make the name better accommodate the channel's new style. OLN's re-launch as Versus occurred on September 25, 2006.

The schedule has also been overhauled. Among the new features is the addition of such as the World Combat League (WCL), created by, and. The latter had its rights shared with (now Paramount Network). Women's college basketball,, , American futsal and rugby competitions were also part of the programming's rebranding.

Versus also acquired, in 2007, the rights to broadcast some college football matches valid for the Mountain West conferences, (now PAC-12) and. Subsequently, the programming segment would be known as College Football on NBCSN.

Along with NBC Sports and the defunct Universal Sports, Versus broadcast the and.

In 2008, after negotiations with the, the channel renewed its broadcasting rights until the 2010-11 season. In June, the Versus operations center was moved from Stamford, Connecticut to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In August, the channel announced a partnership with IndyCar Series to broadcast at least 13 Formula Indy races in HD, starting in 2009.

In April 2010, The Daily Line debuted on Versus' schedule with the aim of discussing sports with a touch of comedy and satire. In November, the program was canceled due to low ratings. In 2019, NBC Sports announced that the show could be revamped and re-aired in the same year.National Collegiate Athletic Association|declared unconstitutional]], though NBCSN instead blended betting content into regular programming.

also announced in 2010 that it would have two events broadcast by Versus as a form of advertising for its "sister" competition, World Extreme Cagefighting. The first, called UFC on Versus had as their main fight. The second had as main attraction. As part of its partnership with the UFC, the channel aired multiple UFC Countdown shows. In 2011, the partnership ended and the main sport of was broadcast by rival Fox Sports.

Still in the search for a greater audience, Versus announced a partnership with the to broadcast 16  games and more than 25 hours of programs about the American basketball universe.

Merger with NBC Sports
In February 2011, acquired a majority stake in NBCUniversal. As part of the acquisition, Versus and other Comcast sports channels began the process of merging the sports division of NBC, NBC Sports.

In March, Versus expanded its college football coverage with the addition of exclusive cable TV broadcasting rights to the games. This was only possible due to the merger with NBC Sports, as the network owns the exclusive broadcasting rights to the university's football matches.

Relaunch as NBC Sports Network/NBCSN
In April 2011, NBC Sports and Versus announced a new contract extension with the NHL. The duration would be 10 years and the total value would be 2 billion dollars. As part of the announcement, Dick Ebersol, former director of NBC Sports, said that the Versus channel would have its name changed in "less than 90 days". However, the new name was only announced on the day August 1 of that year and actually made official on January 1, 2012.

In its first months, NBC Sports Network did not measure efforts to adjust its new programming schedule. A few days after the channel's new name was announced, NBC announced that it had acquired the broadcast rights to and that shows like Whacked Out Sports (a show focusing on amateur sports videos and bikini models) would no longer be aired.

In June 2012, NBC announced that it would renew the broadcast rights until 2020 after winning the dispute against rivals Fox Sports and ESPN. NBC Sports Network supported coverage of the "peacock channel", including reaching a record audience of over 4.5 million people. with the women's soccer final.

The name "NBCSN" started being used in programming almost a week after the rebranding, but it only became official in August 2013, when the charts, narrators, commentators and presenters started using it. According to Multichannel News, the change was made to simplify the branding of the channel.

On September 22, 2013, NBCSN aired an episode of Under Wild Skies—a paid hunting show produced by NHRA— in which host Tony Makris kills a on a trip to  The channel was heavily criticized for broadcasting the material and NBC's response was to pull the episode off the air due to its "delicate content" and declaring that it would be stricter with the production and airing of future programs. It wasn't long before Under Wild Skies was taken off the air entirely after Makris declared that his critics were comparable to.

At the, the channel rebroadcast sister s signal in two special broadcasts. The matches between and  and  and  were shown in Spanish on NBCSN, because the channel did not have the rights to broadcast the games in English.

In December 2018, the channel celebrated the 2nd place in the ranking of most watched sports broadcasters in the United States, ahead of ESPN2, which ended up in 4th place for the first time in its history.

Since the merger between and, NBCSN has a direct partnership with. In March 2019, the American channel added a segment to its programming that rebroadcasts the Sky Sports News signal to the US

Possible ending
On January 22, 2021, an internal statement sent by NBC Sports President Pete Bevacqua announced that the NBCSN channel would have its operations closed at the end of the year and that USA Network would be the new home of some segments. programming, including events such as the playoffs and NASCAR races later in 2021. When the channel is closed, most of the remaining programming will be reshuffled and broadcast by (NBCUniversal streaming service). According to experts, the explanation for this fact is that the has directly impacted the television industry. Another reason cited would be the competition against ESPN and Fox Sports, rivals already extremely consolidated in the market.

Olympics

 * Olympics on NBC: and  (2012-2021)
 * (2013-2020)
 * (2014-2021)

Motorsports

 * NASCAR (2015-2021)
 * Indy Formula (2009-2021)
 * AMA Motocross Championship (2012-2021)
 * AMA Supercross Championship (2019-2021)
 * Monster Jam (2019-2021)
 * IMSA (2019-2021)
 * Moto GP (2020-2021)
 * Superbike World Championship (2020-2021)
 * Formula One (2013–2017)
 * FIA Formula 2 Championship (2013–2017, tape delayed)
 * Red Bull Global Rallycross (2014–2017)
 * (2013–2014, tape delayed)
 * (2014, tape delayed)
 * ARCA Racing Series (2013, tape delayed)

Football

 * (2013-2021)
 * and (Spanish Special Games) (2018-present)
 * (2020-2021)

Hockey

 * (2005-present)
 * Including the and the NHL Draft.

Rugby

 * (2012-2019)
 * (2012-2020)
 * (2016-present)
 * (2018-2021)
 * (2019-2021)
 * (2019-2021)

University sports

 * (American football) (2015-2021)


 * (Basketball)
 * (Basketball)
 * Notre Dame Hockey Team (Hockey) (2012-2021)
 * Notre Dame Football team (American Football) (2011-2021)

Other sports

 * (Netball) (2019-2021)
 * (Netball) (2019-2021)
 * (Water Sports) (2013-2021)
 * (Cycling) (1999-2021)
 * (Tag) (2020-2021)
 * (Athletics)
 *  (Motorsports) (2011-2021)
 * Triple Crown pre-race coverage
 * Undercard races
 * Breeders' Cup (All races other than the )
 * (Cycling) (2011-2015)
 * (Mixed-geneder) (2014-2016)
 * (Fighting) (2012-2016)
 * (Fighting)(2017-2018)
 * (Boxing) (2015-2016)
 * (Curling) (2015-2020)

On December 16, 2012, NBC Sports Network and aired a portion of Sunday Night Football as coverage of the match between  and  made by NBC was interrupted for the network's news division to file a call about the.

In July 2013, NBC announced that it would resume broadcasting NASCAR nine years after its first contract with the series ended. NBCSN serves not only as a support channel for broadcasts but also as a main channel for certain races.

On August 17, 2014, NBCSN aired the edition of the United States Amateur Championship golf championship. This was because the event was postponed due to rain, causing (NBCSN's sister channel) to not be able to broadcast the tournament as usual. This was the first golf broadcast in the channel's history.

Original programming

 * Mecum Dealmakers - Reality show about Mecum Auctions, the largest classic car dealership in the USA.
 * Brother From Another - Michael Holley and Michael Smith comment on the most varied subjects in the sports world.
 * Pro Football Talk (PFT) - Program about all the National Football League highlights and news.
 * High Stakes Duel - Poker competitions in the USA.
 * High Stakes Duel - Poker competitions in the USA.

Disputes with TV operators
In September 2009, operator removed Versus from all packages offered by the company after failing to reach an agreement on pricing with Comcast. In place of the channel, DirecTV placed an ad saying that "Comcast had unfair and absurd demands" and that "Versus was an informational channel that occasionally aired sporting events". NBC Sports both entered into an agreement and Versus returned to all DirecTV packages.

High definition
NBCSN has been broadcasting on a HD feed since 2007. Initially, the channel shared this feed with its sister channel, in a partnership called "Versus/Golf HD". Starting in 2008, both got their own high definition feed.

As part of NBC's coverage, NBCSN is expected to broadcast some events in 4K, but nothing has been announced at this time.