New York (AFP)
US broadcast rights to tournaments organized by the US Golf Association (USGA), including the US Open, were transferred from Fox Sports to NBCUniversal with immediate effect due to the postponement of the tournaments, which caused scheduling difficulties, a USGA announced Monday.
Fox Sports could not find enough broadcast slots for the US Open, postponed from June to September, because of other sports competitions for which the group owns the rights (baseball, American football university and professional), says a press release the USGA.
Fox had committed to spending from 2015 a billion dollars (890 M EUR) to broadcast these tournaments on its channels until 2026.
"The recent events leading to the postponement of the US Open have caused programming problems that were difficult to resolve," Fox Sports general manager Eric Shanks said in the statement.
NBCUniversal thus recovers the rights to broadcast in the United States of this Grand Slam tournament, as well as the US Women's Open, the US Men's Open Amateur and its female equivalent.
"Adding these prestigious USGA tournaments to our already incredibly dense golf content, notably through our long-term partnership with the PGA Tour, as well as the British Open and the Ryder Cup, positions us as the absolute leaders in the world of golf, "said Pete Bevacqua, president of NBC Sports Group, quoted in the USGA press release.
The terms of the contract remain unchanged despite the change of broadcaster, specifies the USGA.
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