Today NBC Sports officially announced their broadcast agreement with the USFL. This is the second time NBC has gotten into the mix with Spring Football. NBC was not part of the XFL 2.0 television package. But was part of the XFL 1.0 era. Peacock will also be airing Fan Controlled Football (FCF) games this season starting in April.
Fox will be carrying 22 USFL games with NBC carrying 21. NBC will broadcast their games on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock.
From John Ourand
“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.”
It looks like NBC is all in for Spring Football.
“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.”
Ourand goes on to say that the league will play its games in Birmingham. Something we have been covering for a while now.
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) launched in 2019 with games on CBS, Turner and NFL Network, but the AAF paid for access on those channels. The XFL played its games on Fox Sports, FS1, ESPN and ABC. In that deal, Disney covered the cost of producing the games while the XFL took in revenue from tickets sales.
Fox Sports owns the USFL and with their agreement with NBC, rights fess are included.
A formal announcement from NBC Sports and the USFL is expected later today.
The USFL is expected to hit the field on Friday, April 15th, 2022. Stay tuned to XFL News Hub for all your USFL news.
