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Fox sells USGA Rights back to NBC


dman748

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After 5 seasons of covering among other things, the U.S. Open, Fox has sold the remaining 6 seasons of its contract back to NBC Sports https://deadline.com/2020/06/fox-ssports-sells-rights-united-states-golf-association-u-s-open-nbc-sports-1202972535/

 

I must say I was a bit surprised after seeing it in the Discord server. I'm not 100% sure why Fox choosed to give up rights to the USGA events (including the U.S. Open) it could be because of budget cuts caused by COVID cancelling/postponing sporting events but it might also be other issues beyond just COVID

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2 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

After 5 seasons of covering among other things, the U.S. Open, Fox has sold the remaining 6 seasons of its contract back to NBC Sports https://deadline.com/2020/06/fox-ssports-sells-rights-united-states-golf-association-u-s-open-nbc-sports-1202972535/

 

I must say I was a bit surprised after seeing it in the Discord server. I'm not 100% sure why Fox choosed to give up rights to the USGA events (including the U.S. Open) it could be because of budget cuts caused by COVID cancelling/postponing sporting events but it might also be other issues beyond just COVID


 

FOX wasn’t particularly good at covering golf like NBC or CBS. While they didn’t get a huge amount for this transaction, every penny saved counts and puts the company on a even greater financial footing moving forward. 

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Zero surprises here. I think Fox Sports sold the USGA a bill of goods about what they were going to do with the rights and the USGA has been getting increasingly annoyed with Fox since 2015. After 20 years with ESPN/NBC, it made sense that USGA wanted to look at greener pastures and Fox was willing to pay up. But, they weren't ever able to bring in decent golf commentator talent with the limited slate of events, and never made a play to expand golf with a run at PGA Tour rights, so that wasn't going to change.

 

Fox wanting to shove the entire US Open to FS1 this year due to college football and NFL conflicts in September was the straw that broke the camel's back in the eyes of the USGA. 

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Fox could've had a great bargaining chip/dumping ground had they really gotten that second terrestrial network going...unfortunately, the world just wasn't ready for its Amerinovelas...

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3 hours ago, caliwxdude said:

Zero surprises here. I think Fox Sports sold the USGA a bill of goods about what they were going to do with the rights and the USGA has been getting increasingly annoyed with Fox since 2015. After 20 years with ESPN/NBC, it made sense that USGA wanted to look at greener pastures and Fox was willing to pay up. But, they weren't ever able to bring in decent golf commentator talent with the limited slate of events, and never made a play to expand golf with a run at PGA Tour rights, so that wasn't going to change.

 

Fox wanting to shove the entire US Open to FS1 this year due to college football and NFL conflicts in September was the straw that broke the camel's back in the eyes of the USGA. 

I agree wholeheartedly. From what little of Golf coverage that I've seen from Fox (and I'm not a Golf fan by any means) it was clear that Fox didn't do a very good job at handling the coverage although Fox did change Golf coverage in general for the better or for worse depending upon your point of view.

 

This will now free up Fox to concentrate on renewing its contract with the NFL (and anything else that's coming up over the next few years) and going after NHL rights.

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On 7/1/2020 at 4:24 AM, oknewsguy said:

I agree wholeheartedly. From what little of Golf coverage that I've seen from Fox (and I'm not a Golf fan by any means) it was clear that Fox didn't do a very good job at handling the coverage although Fox did change Golf coverage in general for the better or for worse depending upon your point of view.

 

This will now free up Fox to concentrate on renewing its contract with the NFL (and anything else that's coming up over the next few years) and going after NHL rights.

To me, Fox and golf did not mesh well; golf tends to have a quiet and serene atmosphere, and for some reason, it just didn't fit Fox at all. As for Joe Buck, he was OK calling golf, but he's no Jim Nantz or Pat Summerall (two of the all-time best commentators when it comes to golf).

 

I think Fox's preference is more towards sports with aggressive competition, e.g., NASCAR, college football, MLB, and of course, the NFL.....

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I've watched some of Fox's golf coverage. It was OK but nothing special. Joe Buck was only there for the paycheck in my opinion and obviously wasn't an expert on the sport. NBC does a great job with sport and Dan Hicks is very underrated as a golf announcer. I think he's just as great as Jim Nantz.

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7 hours ago, J1975am said:

To me, Fox and golf did not mesh well; golf tends to have a quiet and serene atmosphere, and for some reason, it just didn't fit Fox at all. As for Joe Buck, he was OK calling golf, but he's no Jim Nantz or Pat Summerall (two of the all-time best commentators when it comes to golf).

 

I think Fox's preference is more towards sports with aggressive competition, e.g., NASCAR, college football, MLB, and of course, the NFL.....

Buck did fine but I don't think Golf is his cup of tea compared to say Nantz, Summerall or anybody else that we might consider the best golf commentators.

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