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.
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