The NBC Sports Group will begin coverage of the one year early, in 2016, it was announced Monday.
NBC has a long-term media agreement with the Royal and Ancient, and it will begin with the 2016 Open at Royal Troon, continuing with the Senior Open Championship and Ricoh Women’s British Open. The original agreement for 12 years was announced in June this year.
ESPN’s contract with the R&A was set to expire at the end of 2016. A similar move was made across the pond, with the BBC deciding to step away a year early in favor of Sky Sports.
“First and foremost, we want to congratulate ESPN for their company’s successful stewardship of the Open for the last several decades, and we want to thank them for allowing us to start our partnership with the R&A one year early,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group. “2016 promises to be an exciting year for all of golf, as the Open kicks off a historic stretch, including the Rio Olympics, the PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs and Ryder Cup on Golf Channel and NBC.” (via Golf Channel)
(via Golf Channel)
