USGA officially reaches media rights deal with NBC, Versant through 2032

The USGA has officially found a home for its wide-ranging portfolio of golf tournaments, and it’ll look pretty similar to its current abode.

NBC announced on Tuesday that it has renewed a media rights agreement with the USGA that will keep the network as the home of the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, and U.S. Senior Open through 2032. Versant, the yet-launched spinoff company set to house most of NBC’s cable assets, is also included in the deal, with both USA Network and Golf Channel remaining key players for coverage of USGA events.

As part of the new agreement, which will begin in 2027 after the current pact expires next year, NBC will continue to air a minimum of 25 hours of U.S. Open coverage each year, a figure that climbs to 33 hours when the event is held on the West Coast. New in this agreement is NBC’s commitment to air the final hour of coverage during the first and second rounds on its broadcast network rather than bumping the final hour to Peacock as it has done in recent years. Per Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, the USGA will begin to schedule more prominent players in the later tee times so their rounds will conclude during that hour of coverage.

The deal marks Versant’s first official agreement to carry live sports, though NBC Sports president Rick Cordella has indicated the cable networks under the Versant umbrella will fulfill all obligations within ongoing contracts. Interestingly, per Carpenter, CNBC (itself about to be spun off), will contribute shoulder programming for some of the USGA’s various tournaments, though the channel will not carry any live golf.

While financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Puck’s John Ourand previously reported that the deal will be approximately equivalent to the USGA’s current agreement which nets the organization $93 million annually. That deal, a 12-year pact starting in 2015 originally struck by Fox, shifted to NBC in 2020 after Fox opted to exit the sport of golf entirely. Fox still pays approximately half of the current media rights fee, with NBC picking up the rest.

Under the new agreement, NBC and Versant will reportedly split the cost of the rights, though it’s unclear what that breakdown looks like.

Aside from the U.S. Open, NBC will dedicate seven hours of weekend coverage to the U.S. Women’s Open each year and six hours of weekend coverage for the U.S. Senior Open. The new agreement also specifies that Golf Channel’s Live From studio show will continue to have an on-site presence at both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, along with continuing its expansive coverage of Golf’s Longest Day.