|
USSA, NBC SPORTS GROUP AND UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK TO PROVIDE UNPRECEDENTED COVERAGE OF 2014-15 U.S. SKI AND SNOWBOARDING SEASON
NBC Sports Group to Present Record 45 Hours of Coverage This Season; Universal Sports to Telecast 22 Hours of LIVE USSA Coverage
NBC Sports Live Extra, UniversalSports.com and USSA.org to Provide LIVE Digital Coverage
PARK CITY, Utah - Nov. 26, 2014 - The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), NBC Sports Group, and Universal Sports Network will provide unprecedented coverage of the 2014-15 U.S. ski and snowboarding season, highlighted by the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Vail/Beaver Creek, all parties announced today.
The partnership will result in a record 67 of hours of coverage this season across NBC, NBCSN, and Universal Sports, plus additional digital coverage on NBC Sports Live Extra, UniversalSports.com and the USSA's family of websites. NBC will broadcast 18 hours of USSA coverage this season, the most ever for the network, and the largest ski and snowboarding coverage in American ski and snowboarding event history. NBCSN will televise 27 hours, while Universal Sports will present 22 hours of the 2014-15 USSA season.
The coverage is a collection USSA-owned properties such as the Nature Valley Aspen Winternational, Audi Birds of Prey, and freestyle World Cups in Lake Placid and Deer Valley Resort, the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, as well as broadcast rights the USSA has acquired like the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The schedule represents a 30% increase in coverage for USSA events, coming on the heels of a 20% increase in ratings last season.
Highlighting the partnership is a record 30 hours of live coverage across the three television networks for the upcoming 2015 Audi FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, including live coverage of every event for the first time in history. Six hours of coverage is planned for NBC, 8.5 hours for NBCSN and 15.5 for Universal Sports, which includes a live daily post-race show from Vail/Beaver Creek.
NBC Sports Live Extra - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices and tablets - will stream all programming that airs on NBC and NBCSN as well as select events not airing live on NBC or NBCSN. UniversalSports.com will live stream all programming that airs on Universal Sports in addition to other select USSA events.
Tiger Shaw, President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association:
NBC Sports Group has been a loyal partner since 1998 and provides us with a platform to tell the story of our sport heroes. This expansion will bring the American public significantly enhanced coverage of skiing and snowboarding, including annual domestic World Cups, the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, World Championships and U.S. Championships. We're proud of this plan and also bullish on the state of our business to be able to deliver this record-setting coverage with our partners at NBC Sports and Universal Sports Network.
Michael Jaquet, Chief Marketing Officer, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association:
This is a game-changing deal for the USSA, coming on the heels of a 20% increase in ratings last season. We now have a great partnership for the next five years that delivers more content to more viewers than ever before in the history of our sports. Our partners at NBC Sports and Universal Sports are heavily invested in the success of our Olympic medalists in a new deal that benefits us at USSA, but most of all the fans of skiing and snowboarding.
Jon Miller, President, Programming, NBC Sports & NBCSN
We're thrilled to present record levels of U.S. ski and snowboard programming this season across our broadcast, cable and digital platforms, including the Alpine World Championships from Vail. Whether they're at home, on the chairlift or at the lodge, ski and snowboarding fans will now have more access than ever to the world's best ski and snowboarding athletes.
Robert James, Senior Vice President, Content and Communications, Universal Sports:
As the home of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, Universal Sports is proud to expand its partnership with USSA and bring daily live coverage of next year's World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek. We look forward showcasing the world's best skiers to our viewers nationwide.
EVENT LOCATION AIRDATE NET TIME (ET)
Nature Valley Aspen Winternational Aspen, CO 11/29/2014 NBCSN 5:30 PM
Nature Valley Aspen Winternational Aspen, CO 11/30/2014 NBC 3:00 PM
Audi Birds of Prey Beaver Creek, CO 12/5/2014 NBCSN 10:30 PM
Audi Birds of Prey Beaver Creek, CO 12/6/2014 NBC 5:00 PM
Audi Birds of Prey Beaver Creek, CO 12/7/2014 NBC 5:00 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix #1 Copper Mountain, CO 12/14/2014 NBC TBA
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix #1 Copper Mountain, CO 12/6/2014 NBCSN TBD
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix #1 Copper Mountain, CO 12/7/2014 NBCSN 2:30 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix #1 - Reair Copper Mountain, CO 12/20/2014 NBCSN 6:00 PM
Deer Valley Visa Freestyle International : Moguls Park City, UT 1/8/2014 USN 9:00 PM
Deer Valley Visa Freestyle International : Aerials Park City, UT 1/9/2014 USN 9:00 PM
Deer Valley Visa Freestyle International : Dual Moguls Park City, UT 1/10/2014 USN 9:00 PM
Deer Valley Visa Freestyle International Park City, UT 1/11/2014 NBC 1:00 PM
Deer Valley Visa Freestyle International Park City, UT 1/11/2015 NBCSN 2:30 PM
Lake Placid Freestyle Cup Lake Placid, NY 1/31/2015 NBCSN 3:30 PM
Lake Placid Freestyle Cup Lake Placid, NY 2/1/2015 NBCSN 4:00 PM
Lake Placid Freestyle Cup Lake Placid, NY 2/8/2015 NBC 3:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Super G Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/3/2015 NBCSN 1:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Super G Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/4/2015 NBCSN 1:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Downhill Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/6/2015 NBCSN 1:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Downhill Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/7/2015 NBC 2:30 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Super Combined Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/8/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Super Combined Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/8/2015 NBC 5:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Super Combined Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/9/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Super Combined Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/9/2015 NBCSN 4:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Nation's Team Event Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/10/2015 USN 2:30 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Giant Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/12/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Giant Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/12/2015 NBCSN 4:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Giant Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/13/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Giant Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/13/2015 NBCSN 4:00 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/14/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Women's Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/14/2015 NBC 4:30 PM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/15/2015 USN 11:30 AM
FIS Alpine World Champs: Men's Slalom Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/15/2015 NBC 4:30 PM
Best of World Champs Vail/Beaver Creek, CO 2/15/2015 NBCSN 11:30 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Mammoth Mountain, CA 2/8/2015 NBC 4:00 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Mammoth Mountain, CA 2/7/2014 NBCSN 12:30 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Mammoth Mountain, CA 2/8/2014 NBCSN 6:00 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Park City, UT 2/28/15 NBCSN 2:30 PM
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Park City, UT TBD NBCSN TBD
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding/Freeskiing Grand Prix Park City, UT 3/1/2015 NBC 12:00 PM
World Cup Snowboardcross/Skicross Squaw Valley, CA 3/7/2015 NBCSN 1:00 PM
World Cup Snowboardcross/Skicross Squaw Valley, CA 3/7/2015 USN TBA
World Cup Snowboardcross/Skicross Squaw Valley, CA 3/8/2015 NBCSN 11:30 PM
World Cup Snowboardcross/Skicross Squaw Valley, CA 3/8/2015 USN TBA
World Cup Snowboardcross/Skicross Squaw Valley, CA 3/14/2015 NBC 2:00 PM
U.S. Alpine Championships: Super G Sugarloaf, ME TBA NBC TBA
U.S. Freestyle Championships Steamboat Springs, CO 3/29/2015 NBCSN 1:30 PM
In addition to unprecedented coverage this season, USSA has extended its media-rights partnerships with both NBC Sports Group and Universal Sports.
USSA's new partnership with NBC Sports Group, which began in 1998, now extends through the 2018-19 season. In addition to the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colo., the new agreement includes the 2017 Audi FIS World Championships in St. Moritz and World Cup Finals at Aspen, Colo., and the 2019 World Championships in snowboarding, freeskiing and freestyle at Park City, Utah.
Annual coverage across NBC/NBCSN includes all domestic FIS World Cup and Sprint U.S. Grand Prix competitions. NBC Sports Live Extra has streaming rights through 2018-19.
Universal Sports Network's extended partnership with USSA includes rights to select domestic USSA events and the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. In addition to USSA events, Universal Sports showcases several international ski and snowboard competitions every year. Through their agreements with FIS and EBU, Universal Sports' alpine coverage includes 66 FIS Alpine World Cup events offering more than 100 hours of exclusive television coverage and 250 hours of live streaming coverage on UniversalSports.com during the 2014-15 season.
|
