NBCSN would lose the CAA and Ivy League, but retained its A-10 package. It was renewed in 2021 under a multi-year deal, and moved to USA Network in January 2022 after the shutdown of NBCSN. In August 2022, NBC Sports announced that it had acquired rights to Big Ten basketball as part of a larger agreement with the conference, with a package of games airing on Peacock beginning in the 2023–24 season.
On November 12, 2022, college basketball returned to the main NBC network when the Notre Dame women's college basketball team took on the California women's college basketball team as part of the inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic. It was the first women's college basketball game to ever air on NBC, and the first college basketball game of any kind since 1998.[2] Men's college basketball will return to the main NBC network during the 2024–25 season.
For NBC's first year of tournament coverage in 1969, the network aired the consolation game nationally and the national semi-finals on a regional basis (which were held on a Thursday night). 1972 marked the final year that NBC aired the consolation game. The following year marked the first time that the Final Four was held on a Saturday, and was the first prime time championship game[3] to air on NBC.
From 1969 to 1972, Final Four contests were split national telecasts. Because the NCAA Tournament wasn't seeded, but based on geography, the Final Four generally had two eastern and two western teams. NBC, with a prime-time slot, televised the eastern-oriented game in the east, and the western-oriented game in the west. It essentially was a split-national telecast, with the split occurring over the time, not simultaneous games. This inevitably created problems, such as when Louisville played UCLA in the late game in 1972, people in the east didn't see it. And, if the first game went into overtime, NBC couldn't close out the eastern window and open the western window. The western United States would get the end of the early game, but the east would still not get to see the late game. The secondary problem was that the east didn't get to see UCLA in the tournament until the title game.
By 1974, NBC was providing coverage of nine games in seven windows (a far cry from the current tournament coverage). The following year, NBC aired ten games in nine windows – presenting the regional finals as a tripleheader with regional coverage in the middle time slot; this was also the first year that Billy Packer covered the Final Four.
NBC did not start airing regular season games until about 1975–76,[4] when the network partnered with the ad-hoc sports service TVS Television Network. While NBC Sports' on-air talent was used, the production was covered by TVS. By this point, NBC would air regional and national games on Saturdays, and national games (called by Dick Enberg, Al McGuire[5] and Billy Packer[6]) on Sundays. As for the regional telecasts[7] on Saturdays, typically in the Northeast, before the game featuring the Big East or Atlantic 10 conferences, it was the "ECAC Game of the Week".
1977–1981
For the 1976–77 season, NBC moved the national games to Sundays. NBC added a Saturday game on the last weekend of the season to show undefeated San Francisco take on Notre Dame.
NBC added first round Sunday coverage during the 1977 tournament.
In the 1977–78 season, C.D. Chesley (who controlled the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) rights at the time) wanted NBC to televise select ACC games as part of its national package as it had the previous few years. However, NBC wanted to feature intersectional games. This action greatly upset Chesley, who wound up selling the rights to the ACC Tournament final to ABC. As a result, there was a notable absence of ACC home games in NBC's college basketball schedule for the 1977–78 season. For this season, NBC added Al McGuire to the No. 1 team alongside Dick Enberg and Billy Packer. Early in the season, NBC stationed McGuire in a remote location and went to him only for periodic commentary. Eventually, NBC moved McGuire courtside to form a three-man announcer team. Dick Stockton filled in for Enberg on at least three games.
In 1978, NBC aired all regional finals games nationally for the first time, moving two of the games to Sunday. NBC split up the analysts from its No. 1 announcer team for the first two weekends of the tournament. Al McGuire for the most part, worked with Curt Gowdy while Billy Packer generally worked with Dick Enberg. While Dick Enberg served as the play-by-play announcer for NBC's Final Four coverage in 1978, Curt Gowdy moved over to a hosting role for the Final Four coverage.
NBC's coverage of the 1979 NCAA championship game between Indiana State and Michigan State to this day, remains the highest-rated game (garnering a 24.1 rating) in the history[8] of televised college basketball.
On Super Bowl Sunday 1981, NBC broadcast the Ohio State-Virginia game (with Don Criqui doing play-by-play)at 1:30pm. ET. In NBC's final year covering the NCAA tournament, 1981,[9] the network introduced a policy of switching from game to game on the fly. Before this, NBC would naturally, stay with the regionally-televised games to their conclusion.
After losing the Division I basketball tournament rights (1982–1989)
After NBC lost the tournament rights to CBS[10] (which started a separate regular season package) beginning in 1982, they continued with TVS through 1983, wrapping up with the ACC Tournament Final[11] (which NBC had traditionally wrapped up their coverage with, by this point).
After TVS went back to broadcasting separate, regional games beginning in 1983–84,[12] NBC was left to pick up the games[13][14] that CBS did not want (save for the ACC Final) for the rest of the 1980s.
During this period, NBC's promotional slogan for its game broadcasts was "College basketball, it's the stuff Saturdays are made of!"[15][16] Another slogan that NBC used in game promotions was "Sunday come on home to college basketball on NBC!"[17]
On January 27, 1985, Jim Valvano (who was still the NC State coach) called a game between Indiana and Illinois alongside Bob Costas for NBC after coaching a game the previous day.
Decline (1990–1998)
With CBS and ESPN gaining strength in the 1990s, all NBC could put together was a 4–5 game package featuring a then-mediocre Notre Dame program. By the 1992–93 season, NBC only broadcast two games, both involving Notre Dame (a February 6 contest against Duke, and a February 13 contest against Kentucky). NBC was seeing much more success with its broadcasts of Notre Dame football games than the team's basketball telecasts by this point.
On February 22, 1992, Al McGuire called his last game for NBC (UCLA @ Notre Dame). CBS signed McGuire for the NCAA tournament. In the 1993–94 season, NBC only aired one game, which was UCLA @ Notre Dame on February 5.
For the 1995 edition of the Wooden Classic, ABC regionally televised the first half of the doubleheader (Villanova vs. Purdue) with Roger Twibell and Dick Vitale on the call. At approximately 3:45pm. Eastern time, NBC broadcast Maryland vs. UCLA for the second half. On December 7, 1996, the first game of the Wooden Classic doubleheader (Utah vs. Arizona) tipped off at 1:45pm, but NBC joined the action in progress at 2 p.m. for most of the country.
NBC's final men's college basketball during this period was a February 28, 1998 contest between Notre Dame and the Providence Friars. NBC continues to maintain a broadcasting relationship with the university as it airs all Notre Dame football home games and select away games.
Coverage on cable; Atlantic 10, CAA and Ivy League (2011–2021)
When Comcast and NBC Universal merged in 2011, college basketball on Versus was integrated into NBC Sports with the channel's relaunch as NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on January 1, 2012.[21] In 2012, NBC Sports reached agreements to carry Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) basketball and football on NBCSN and Comcast SportsNet,[22][23]Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) basketball on NBCSN,[24] and renewed NBCSN's rights to the Ivy League for two additional seasons.[25] By the late-2010s, NBC Sports had lost the CAA and Ivy League to other broadcasters.[26][27]
In 2021, NBCSN continued its relationship with the A-10 under a multi-year deal. 25 regular season games are broadcast per-season, as well as selected games from the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament.[24] NBCSN shut down at the end of 2021, after which USA Network assumed its A-10 broadcasts (among other sports properties).[28]
Expansion of coverage over-the-air and streaming; Atlantic 10, Big East and Big Ten (2022–present)
In August 2022, NBC Sports announced that it had reached a seven-year deal to carry Big Ten Conference athletics on its platforms, which will include a package of Big Ten men's and women's basketball games on Peacock beginning in the 2023–24 season. Peacock will air up to 47 men's basketball games and 30 women's basketball games per-season (including 32 and 20 intraconference games respectively), as well as the opening night doubleheaders of the men's and women's conference tournaments.[29][30]
NBC Sports carried two inaugural showcase games during the 2022–23 season; NBC aired the Citi Shamrock Classic on November 12, 2022, between Notre Dame and California's women's basketball teams. It marked the first women's college basketball game to ever air on NBC, and its first college basketball game overall since 1998.[31] Peacock would sponsor and air the Peacock Classic on December 2, 2022, between Baylor and Gonzaga—a rematch of the 2021 national championship game.[32]
For the 2023–24 season, it was announced that Noah Eagle, Jac Collinsworth, and Terry Gannon would be the primary play-by-play broadcasters for Big Ten men's basketball, while Robbie Hummel and Stephen Bardo will be the primary game analysts. Additionally, Paul Burmeister, Steve Burkowski, Rich Lerner, and Steve Schlanger would provide play-by-play on select games, while Tre Demps would be an additional game analyst. For Big Ten women's basketball, Zora Stephenson, Cindy Brunson, and Sloane Martin were announced as play-by-play broadcasters, with Meghan McKeown and Julianne Viani serving as game analysts.[33]Ahmed Fareed was announced as studio host for Big Ten men's coverage, working with studio analysts Josh Pastner, and Jordan Cornette, while Carolyn Manno was announced as the studio host for Big Ten women's coverage, with studio analysts Aliyah Boston and Meghan McKeown.[34] Along with Big Ten basketball, Peacock also announced they would air the Indy Classic and the final day of the Philadelphia Big 5, the latter of which was also simulcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus.[35][36]
On December 14, 2023, NBC Sports announced an extension to its Atlantic 10 agreement. NBC Sports will continue to air 25 men's regular season games and 3 women's regular season games, mostly on USA Network. USA Network will also air the first, second and quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament and the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament.[37] Games that previously aired exclusively on the free NBC Sports App would now air on Peacock.[38]
On June 27, 2024, it was announced that NBC Sports would broadcast more than 60 Big East Conference men's and women's basketball games alongside Fox Sports and TNT Sports starting in the 2025–26 season. A 30-game trial run on Peacock would stream in the 2024–25 season, including five tournament games in the early round and quarterfinal stages.[39] Two Big East men's games in 2024–25 will air on NBC, along with three women's and two men's Big Ten games.[40][41] For the first time during the 2024–25 season, NBC Sports will also air games on the free NBC Sports FAST Channel. The channel will air all games from the inagural Women's Basketball Coaches Association Showcase, along with one game from the NABC Hall of Fame Classic.[42]
As previously mentioned, NBC and TVS were partners in televising college basketball from 1975 to 1983. Typically on Saturdays, NBC and TVS would broadcast a regional slate of college basketball from the various conferences.
The Big Ten Conference is the oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of ten prominent universities, which accounts for its name. On August 2, 2024, the conference expanded to 18 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport.
National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition like conference schools do.
The Television Sports Television Network, or TVS Television Network for short, was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the 1960s to take advantage of the establishment of independent television stations and relaxation of the AT&T Long Lines usage rates.
Richard Alan Enberg was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including NBC (1975–1999), CBS (2000–2014), and ESPN (2004–2011), as well as for individual teams, such as UCLA Bruins basketball, Los Angeles Rams football, and California Angels and San Diego Padres baseball.
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television broadcaster CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studios 43 and 44 of the CBS Broadcast Center on W 57th Street.
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its dedicated national sports cable channels. Formerly operating as "a service of NBC News", it broadcasts a diverse array of sports events, including Big East basketball, Big Ten football and basketball, NASCAR, the National Football League (NFL), Notre Dame football, the Olympic Games, PGA Tour golf, the Premier League, the Tour de France, and Thoroughbred racing among others. Other programming from outside producers – such as coverage of the Ironman Triathlon – is also presented on the network through NBC Sports. With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, its own cable sports networks were aligned with NBC Sports into a part of the division known as the NBC Sports Group.
College football on television includes the broad- and cablecasting of college football games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of American football annually garners high television ratings.
College Football on NBC Sports is the de facto title used for broadcasts of NCAA college football games produced by NBC Sports.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
Notre Dame Football on NBC is an American presentation of college football games involving the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that are produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States. NBC Sports has broadcast all Notre Dame home games since September 7, 1991.
College Basketball on CBS Sports is the branding used for broadcasts of men's NCAA Division I basketball games that are produced by CBS Sports, for CBS, CBSSN, and Facebook.
ESPN College Basketball is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major conference, and a number of mid-major conferences.
College Football on USA refers to the USA Network's cable television coverage of the college football regular season. USA's coverage ran from 1980 to 1986.
NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming primarily involving fishing, hunting, outdoor adventure programs, and outdoor sports. By the turn of the 21st century, OLN became better known for its extensive coverage of the Tour de France but eventually began covering more "mainstream" sporting events, resulting in its relaunch as Versus in September 2006.
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News", it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others. Assets currently include among others Golf Channel and NBC Sports Regional Networks.
Fox College Hoops is the branding used for Fox Sports broadcasts of college basketball for Fox, FS1 and FS2. Formally college basketball telecasts have also been carried by the Fox Sports Networks (FSN) and FX in the past, the Fox College Hoops branding was introduced in 1994.
Following the dissolving of USA Sports into NBC Sports after the 2007 Masters, USA Network began deemphasizing sports. During this time NBC Sports properties generally only aired on USA in special cases, such as during the Olympics, Stanley Cup Playoffs or the final week of the English Premier League season.
When the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, all major professional and collegiate organizations responded by suspending operations indefinitely. This effect was passed down to the world of sports broadcasting, which includes live coverage of thousands of events on an annual basis through stations and network available over the air, through cable, satellite, and IPTV companies, and via streaming and over-the-top services.
Jac Collinsworth is an American sportscaster working for NBC Sports since 2020. He also worked for ESPN on their NFL Live and Sunday NFL Countdown. At NBC, Collinsworth serves as a play-by-play announcer for Big Ten and Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball. Additionally, he co-hosts NBC's Football Night in America.
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