NBCSN's loss is USA's gain

With NBCSN (US) shuttering on Dec. 31, USA (US) will pick up a host of sports properties, kicking off with a trio of Premier League matches on New Year's Day.

NBCUniversal Media LLC in January confirmed it would be migrating content from the sports network, which over the years has operated and evolved under such monikers as Outdoor Life Network, OLN, Versus and NBC Sports Network.

In addition to Premier League matches, USA will be home to NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series stock car action; cycling's top event, the Tour de France; a pair of IndyCar events; Atlantic 10 college basketball; and golf, highlighted by early-round and weekend lead-in coverage from The Open Championship and the men's and women's U.S. Open events.

Streaming service Peacock, CNBC (US) and other linear platforms will also host a wide variety of live sports that have previously aired on NBCSN.

USA has been part of NBCU's Olympic roster over the years, and it will continue that coverage for the upcoming Winter Olympics from Beijing. NBCU said the network ranked as the top sports and cable network in prime time during this year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with an average of 1.6 million viewers for its presentation of track and field, beach and indoor volleyball, and softball.

USA's sports migration is aimed at boosting viewership, advertising and license fees for the general-entertainment service, the longtime home to pro wrestling's "WWE Raw" on Monday nights, as well as some NHL playoff coverage over the years.

Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, estimates USA's average subscriber base for 2021 at 80.5 million at an average customer fee of $1.68 per month for some $1.63 billion in affiliate revenue. USA is projected to reach just shy of $600 million in advertising revenue this year.

NBCSN has an average subscriber base of 69.7 million this year, which puts its average monthly customer fee at 48 cents for estimated affiliate revenue of $404.3 million, according to Kagan. NBCSN's net ad revenue is forecast to reach $115.3 million in 2021.

Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, said the boost in television homes will put the segment in an even stronger position to grow its business.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, NBCSN will display tune-in information about the changes, along with extensive marketing and social media campaigns, as well as content within telecasts to alert viewers about the situation. NBC Sports' partners will also educate their fan bases about the change, with the timing of the network's decommissioning potentially varying by distributor.

NBCU ended its NHL rights run with the pandemic-truncated 2020 season after carrying the puck sport since 2005-06 season across various properties, and it is now facing a key renewal for the Premier League. Its six-season pact in the U.S. for the U.K.'s top soccer circuit ends with the current campaign in May.

Retention of Premier League rights would mark a key win for NBCU and USA's expanded sports positioning, as well as for Peacock, which also has been streaming league matches.

Reports indicate that ESPN Inc., ViacomCBS Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Fox Corp.'s FOX Sports have shown interest in the rights, with bids expected by Nov. 8. ESPN+ and ViacomCBS' aggregate offering Paramount+ have been using soccer rights as a means to acquire subscribers, particularly young men.