Sports broadcasting contracts in the United States

This page refers to sports broadcasting contracts in the United States.

Baseball

Major League Baseball

National Television

• Fox:^[1] 12 Saturday afternoon games; All-Star Game; one League Championship Series (shared with Fox Sports 1); World Series
• FS1: 40 Saturday afternoon games; two Division Series; one League Championship Series that TBS does not air.
• Turner Sports: Sunday afternoon games carried by TBS for the last thirteen weeks of the season. Postseason coverage consists of one Wild Card Game; two Division Series; one League Championship Series that Fox Sports does not air. For postseason only, TNT serves as an overflow station.^[2]
• ESPN: Opening Day, Sunday night, Monday night, and Wednesday night games plus occasional broadcasts during the week. All-Star festivities including the annual Home Run Derby. Airs any end of season tiebreaking games and one Wild Card Game.^[3]
• MLB Network: 46 Thursday night and 26 Saturday night games and two Division Series games. Also carries local broadcast feeds of teams across the nation.

Local Television

• Additionally, local or regional broadcasters contract with the MLB team in their area for the right to broadcast a number of regular season games locally. These broadcasters include both over-the-air television stations as well as regional cable sports channels. (This includes WGN-TV in Chicago, which until 2015 also aired its games on the WGN America national feed.) Games broadcast locally or regionally are available nationwide (except those affected by local blackout restrictions) on the pay-per-view MLB Extra Innings package.

National Radio

• ESPN Radio: a Saturday game of the week, Sunday night, opening day and holiday games, plus the All-Star Game and the entire postseason

Local Radio

• MLB teams also contract with local broadcasters to air games on radio. Several teams have multiple affiliates covering those games. The flagship stations can air all games of the teams they contract with, other affiliates must allow ESPN radio coverage to air during the postseason.

World Baseball Classic

MLB Network has English-language rights to the 2017 edition of the World Baseball Classic. In addition to the 39 tournament matches, MLBN televises the four final qualifiers.^[4]

ESPN Radio has English-language audio rights to the 2017 edition.

ESPN Deportes holds Spanish-language TV and audio rights to the 2017 WBC edition.

Caribbean Series

MLB Network has English-language TV rights to the Caribbean Series.

ESPN Radio has English-language radio rights to the Caribbean Series.

ESPN Deportes has Spanish-language TV and radio rights to the Caribbean Series.

College Baseball

Post-season ESPN currently broadcasts the College World Series on its family of networks.

Regular-season Nationally-televised regular-season games are contracted through each conference and appear on beIN Sports, CBS Sports Network, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, FSN, Fox College Sports, including several school- and conference-specific networks (Big Ten Network, BYUtv, the Pac-12 Network, and the Longhorn Network).

Little League Baseball

ESPN has rights to broadcast the entire Little League World Series, as well as the finals of the eight regional tournaments that determine the U.S. representatives in that competition. It distributes coverage among its family of networks; the final is traditionally carried by ABC, whose sports division is now run by ESPN.

Minor League Baseball

CBS Sports Network has a contract with MiLB to air one game each week.^[5]

Nippon Professional Baseball

• Yomiuri Giants: ONE World Sports
• Other limited coverage is part of the weekend schedule of TV Japan

Basketball

National Basketball Association

National television

• ABC: Nineteen regular-season games (Christmas Day doubleheader, and late-season games on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons); some first- and second-round playoff games (mostly on weekend afternoons); NBA Finals through 2025
• ESPN: Eighty-two regular-season games (mostly on Wednesday and Friday night doubleheaders; occasional Sunday and Tuesday night games); up to thirty playoff games in the first two rounds, with exclusive coverage presentations of conference semifinals games and one full conference finals series per year through 2025
• TNT: Sixty-four regular-season games (mostly on Thursday night doubleheaders); All-Star Weekend; up to forty-five playoff games during the first two rounds and will have exclusive coverage of the conference semifinals games it telecasts and one of the conference finals each year through 2025
• NBA TV: One-hundred seven regular-season games on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Saturday night and up to nine postseason games through 2025

Local television

Additionally, local or regional broadcasters contract with the NBA team in their area for the right to broadcast a number of regular-season games locally. These broadcasters can be traditional over-the-air television stations as well as regional cable sports channels. WGN, then a Chicago-based superstation, broadcast a limited number of Chicago Bulls regular season games on their national feed until 2014, fewer than they provided locally. If ESPN chooses to opt out of airing all of the games on their night, NBA TV airs a game in its place. Games in the first round of the playoffs can be aired by regional broadcasters, unless the national broadcaster has exclusive rights. Games in the first round not selected by national broadcasters are usually broadcast by NBA TV.

National radio

• ESPN Radio: usually one game from the Sunday afternoon package, one game on Thursday night, and postseason coverage including all games in the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals

Local radio

NBA teams also contract with local radio broadcasters to air their games. Teams may also have affiliates air their games.

Women's National Basketball Association

• ESPN: select weeknight games, playoffs, and WNBA Finals; All Star Game; provisional coverage on ABC through 2025; additional games on NBATV.

College basketball

Postseason

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament: CBS/Turner
  • Every game in the NCAA Tournament is telecast live nationally on either CBS or one of three Turner networks—TBS, TNT, or truTV. Coverage is split as follows:
    • The First Four (the expanded "play-in" round) airs on truTV.
    • In the first and second rounds, all four networks air games. CBS airs one "featured" game in each time slot, with the other three networks carrying other games.
    • The Sweet Sixteen (regional semifinals) are on CBS
    • For 2014 and 2015, two Elite Eight (regional finals) will air on CBS TBS will broadcast the national semifinfals, and CBS the title game. Beginning in 2016, TBS will air all three Final Four games in even-numbered years and CBS in odd-numbered years through 2032.
  • All games are also streamed via the NCAA/CBS March Madness On Demand service. The new contract will allow Turner to develop its own streaming service for the tournament, alongside MMOD.
• NIT post-season & Pre-season: ESPN networks with internet streaming on ESPN3.
• NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament: ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU with internet streaming of all games on ESPN3.

Regular season

• Nationally televised regular-season games are contracted through each conference and appear on BeIN Sports, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, FSN, Fox College Sports, NBCSN, and others, including several school- and conference-specific networks (Big Ten Network, BYUtv, the Pac-12 Network, and the Longhorn Network).
• National broadcasts on the radio are provided by Compass Media Networks including the Big Ten Tournament and Westwood One including 17 conference tournament championship games, the NCAA Tournament, NCAA Division 2 men's basketball Championship, and NIT Semifinals and Championship. ESPN Radio provides national coverage of the Big 12 Championship game.

Other Leagues

• NBA Summer League: ESPN and NBA TV
• NBA Development League: ESPN and NBA TV
• The Basketball Tournament: ESPN
• ABA Basketball: ESPN3
• NAIA Basketball: ESPN3
• Premier Basketball League: ESPN3
• Euroleague: NBA TV and ESPN3

Cricket

• Cricket World Cup: ESPN3
• ICC Champions Trophy: ESPN3
• ICC World Twenty20: ESPN3
• Under-19 Cricket World Cup: ESPN3
• Regional Super50: ESPN3
• Indian Premier League: ESPN3
• Bangladesh Premier League: ESPN3
• Sri Lanka Premier League: ESPN3
• Masters Champions League: ESPN3
• U.S. Open: ESPN3
• The Ashes: ESPN3
• Australia national cricket team: Willow
• Big Bash League: NBCSN, Willow
• NatWest t20 Blast: ESPN3
• Royal London One-Day Cup: ESPN3
• England national cricket team: ESPN3
• New Zealand national cricket team: ESPN3
• Sri Lankan cricket team in New Zealand in 2014–15: ESPN3
• Bangladesh national cricket team: ESPN3
• Cricket All-Stars: ESPN3
• Caribbean Premier League: ONE World Sports
• Tests and One Day Internationals: ESPN3 and Willow

Curling

More than 300 hours of live curling, broadcast by TSN in Canada, will be live-streamed on ESPN3, including:

• Canada Cup of Curling
• All-Star Curling Skins Game
• Continental Cup of Curling
• Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Championships
• Scotties Tournament of Hearts
• Tim Hortons Brier

Cycling

• Tour de France: NBCSN (NBC shows a weekly one-hour recap)^[6]
• Giro d'Italia: beIN Sports
• Vuelta a España: NBCSN
• Tirreno–Adriatico: beIN Sports
• Milan–San Remo: beIN Sports
• Tour of Flanders: beIN Sports
• Gent–Wevelgem: beIN Sports
• Strade Bianche: beIN Sports
• Tour of Croatia: ESPN3
• Tour de Suisse:
• Volta a Catalunya: NBCSN
• UCI World Tour Championships: NBCSN ^[6]
• Tour of California: NBCSN ^[6]
• USA Pro Cycling Challenge: NBCSN and NBC ^[6]
• Liège–Bastogne–Liège: NBCSN ^[6]
• Tour of Utah: Fox Sports 1 ^[7]

Football

National Football League

CBS has rights through the 2022-2023 season to the following:^[8][9]

• AFC Sunday Afternoon package, see more
• One Thanksgiving game
• One Wild Card game
• One/Two Divisional playoff game
• AFC Championship
• Super Bowls 50 (2016), LIII (2019), and LVI (2022)

ESPN has rights through the 2021-2022 season to the following:^[10][11]

• Monday Night Football
• One Wild Card game (simulcast on ABC) ^[12]
• Pro Bowl

Fox has rights through the 2022-2023 season to the following:^[9][13]

• NFC Sunday Afternoon package, see more
• One Thanksgiving game
• One Wild Card game
• One/Two Divisional playoff game
• NFC Championship
• Super Bowls LI (2017), LIV (2020), and LVII (2023)

NBC has rights through the 2022-2023 season to the following:^[9][14]

• Sunday Night Football
• NFL Kickoff Game
• One Thanksgiving game
• One Wild Card game
• One Divisional playoff game
• Super Bowls XLIX (2015), LII (2018), and LV (2021)

CBS and NBC share rights through the 2017-18 season to the following:

• 10 games under the Thursday Night Football banner (five a piece), with all games to air simultaneously on NFL Network.

NFL Network televises 16 games under the Thursday Night Football banner during the regular season (14 on Thursday, two late season games on Saturday).

DirecTV, through NFL Sunday Ticket, has pay-per-view rights to all regular season Sunday afternoon games through 2021.

Yahoo! will televise one NFL London game on streaming devices. The game will also be simulcast on broadcast networks in the local markets of the teams playing in the game.^[15][16]

NFL on Westwood One Sports has exclusive national radio rights through the 2017-2018 season.^[17][18]

Sports USA has national radio rights to regular season Sunday afternoon doubleheaders sublicensed from Dial Global.

Compass Media Networks has national radio rights to regular season Sunday afternoon games for 10 teams sublicensed from Dial Global.

Each NFL team has local television stations with rights to preseason games and radio stations with rights to all games.

Sirius XM has exclusive satellite radio rights to home, away, and, if available, national broadcast radio feeds of all games. Also has rights to online streaming of games for its subscribers starting with the 2011 season.

College Football

Regular-season

• Army and Navy home games and the Army–Navy Game: CBS and CBS Sports Network
• ACC: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Raycom Sports (branded as the ACC Network)
• The American: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS Sports Network
  • AAC Championship Game: ESPN
• BYU home games: ABC, BYUtv, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU
• Big Ten Conference: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Big Ten Network, Fox (title game)
• Big 12 Conference: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, Fox, Fox Sports Net, and Fox Sports 1 (at least one Longhorns home game exclusively on Longhorn Network)
  • Big 12 Championship Game: ABC (in even years) and Fox (in odd years)
• Conference USA: ESPN, beIN Sports, CBS Sports Network and ASN
  • Conference USA Football Championship Game: ESPN
• Mountain West Conference: ESPN Networks and CBS Sports Network
  • MWC Championship Game: ESPN
• Notre Dame home games and Bayou Classic: NBC ^[19]
• Pac-12 Conference: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FS1, Fox, and Pac-12 Network
  • Pac-12 Football Championship Game: Fox (in even years) and ABC (in odd years)
• SEC: CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network
• Sun Belt Conference: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPNU and ESPN3
• Mid-American Conference: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3
• Ivy League: NBCSN ^[19]
• Colonial Athletic Association: NBCSN ^[19]
• Other games and conferences: CBS Sports Network, ESPNU, WAC Sports Network, Southland Conference Television Network, Big Sky TV, Sun Belt Network, CSS, Altitude

Post-season

• All bowl games, including the College Football Playoff bowls (Rose Bowl Game, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and CFP National Championship), air on ESPN networks unless otherwise noted.
• ABC: Celebration Bowl (2016), Las Vegas Bowl (2013–present), Citrus Bowl (1987-2010, 2013–present), Outback Bowl (2017), Pinstripe Bowl (2015)
• CBS: Sun Bowl (1968–present)
• CBS Sports Network: Cure Bowl (2015)
• Fox: Foster Farms Bowl (2016)
• ASN: Arizona Bowl (2015)
• NCAA Division I Football Championship: ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU (television), WestwoodOne (radio)
• NCAA Division II National Football Championship game: ESPN2
• NCAA Division III National Football Championship game: ESPNU

Radio

• ESPN Radio: Army Black Knights football and Navy Midshipmen football (national rights)
• IMG College: Notre Dame Fighting Irish football (national rights), regional rights to numerous other teams as well as Big East and Southeastern Conference games of the week
• JMI Sports: regional rights to University of Kentucky sports, including football, from 2015–2030^[20]
• Learfield Sports: regional rights to numerous teams
• Nevada Sports Network: 3 bowl games a year
• Sports USA Radio Network, WestwoodOne Sports, Compass Media Networks, ESPN Radio, and Touchdown Radio Productions/United Stations Radio Networks: national games

Arena football

• CBS Sports Network: Has rights to 17 regular season games and two postseason games.
• ESPN has rights to broadcast 12 regular season and three postseason games per year, including ArenaBowl and one conference championship game, as well as 80 or more games annually on ESPN3.

Other professional leagues

• Canadian Football League: At least 17 regular season games and the Eastern and Western Finals are televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS; the Grey Cup airs on ESPN2. ESPN3 airs all games. (2014-2018)^[21]
• Indoor Football League: America One holds broadcast rights.

Golf

Men

• Masters Tournament – ESPN/CBS
• U.S. Open – Fox Sports 1/Fox^[22]
• British Open – Golf Channel/NBC^[23]
• PGA Championship – TNT/CBS
• Ryder Cup – Golf Channel/NBC
• The Players Championship – NBC/Golf Channel^[24]
• The Presidents Cup – NBC/Golf Channel ^[24]
• FedEx Cup Playoffs – NBC/Golf Channel ^[24]
• Other PGA Tour coverage – CBS, NBC, Golf Channel
• Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – ESPN
• Latin America Amateur Championship – ESPN
• OneAsia Tour – ONE World Sports

Women

• ANA Inspiration: Golf Channel ^[24]
• Women's PGA Championship: Golf Channel/NBC ^[24]
• U.S. Women's Open: Fox Sports 1/Fox
• Women's British Open: Golf Channel/NBC
• The Evian Championship: Golf Channel/NBC
• Solheim Cup and other LPGA events: Golf Channel

Hockey

National Hockey League

• NBCSN: One to three regular-season games/week, All-Star Game, playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals (games 3, 4), through 2021.^[25]
• NBC: Black Friday game, New Year's Day game, Sunday afternoon late-season games, weekend afternoon playoff games, and Stanley Cup Finals (games 1-2, 5–7), through 2021).^[25]
• NHL Network: Wednesday, Friday and occasional Sunday games. Simulcasts of CBC/Rogers's Hockey Night in Canada (Saturday nights); the simulcast can be blacked out if a local channel is carrying coverage of the same game.
• CNBC and USA: Stanley Cup Playoffs overflows
• Telemundo Deportes: Spanish-language simulcasts of NHL regular season games, All-Star Game, playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals on NBC Universo and Telemundo through 2021.

Additionally, viewers near the Canada–US border, especially in the Seattle, Detroit and Buffalo markets, can view CBC broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada, playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals. CBC reaches most cable subscribers in Michigan, the Buffalo area, and much of the Seattle TV market. CBC broadcasts of NHL playoff games often get better ratings in those markets than the simultaneous American broadcast when both are available.

Local or regional broadcasters contract with the NHL team in their area for the right to broadcast a number of regular season games locally. These broadcasters can be traditional over-the-air television stations as well as regional cable sports channels. While the Chicago Blackhawks broadcast some games on WGN-TV, these games were not available for the WGN America feed due to league broadcast regulations but they are shown on WGN in Canada (same feed as WGN-TV).

Teams also have contracts with local radio broadcasters to air their games.

Radio

Westwood One through its NBC Sports Radio division (Stanley Cup Finals); games also simulcast on Sirius XM satellite radio.

World Cup of Hockey

ESPN has been awarded the exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The deal covers all tournament games – round-robin, semi-final and the best-of-three final – for the 2016 tournament and includes exclusive rights on television and radio, with most games to appear on ESPN and ESPN2.

National Women's Hockey League

NWHL announced a landmark television deal with NESN and an internet partnership with ESPN to stream some matches on ESPN3. Agreement with the league includes ten regular season games and playoffs on ESPN3 and eight Boston games on NESN.

Southern Professional Hockey League

• America One: Regular season, playoffs and Championships through 2014

College Ice Hockey

• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship: ESPNU (regional semifinals and finals), ESPN2 (national semifinals), ESPN (national championship), Turner (internet streaming of all games) and Westwood One (radio)
• Regular season games air locally, with a few being simulcast on NHL Network. Additionally, CBS Sports Network, ESPNU, Big Ten Network (games involving conference members only), and Fox College Sports as well as NBCSN (Hockey East Conference)^[26] will air games nationally.

Other Ice Hockey Leagues

Ice Hockey World Championships: NBC Sports

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships: NHL Network

MasterCard Memorial Cup: NHL Network

American Hockey League: select games on NHL Network, select regional coverage by local broadcasters, All-Star Game and Skills Competition on regional sports networks

Champions Hockey League: ONE World Sports

Horse Racing

Triple Crown

• NBC has the rights of:
  • Kentucky Derby through 2025.^[27]
  • Preakness Stakes through 2022.^[28]
  • Belmont Stakes through 2020.^[29]
• NBCSN provides supplementary coverage of all three Triple Crown races, including previews and associated undercard races on Fridays preceding the Saturday Triple Crown Races:
  • Kentucky Oaks
  • Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
  • Brooklyn Handicap

Breeders' Cup

• NBC and NBCSN have the Breeders' Cup World Championships rights, with most races airing on NBCSN and the Breeders' Cup Classic airing in primetime on NBC.^[27]

Road to the Kentucky Derby

• NBC and NBCSN have the rights to all "Road to the Kentucky Derby" races, including the Florida Derby, Santa Anita Derby and Blue Grass Stakes races from March - April.^[27]

Lacrosse

Major League Lacrosse

• ESPN3: 20 regular season games^[30]
• CBS Sports Network: 24 regular season games, both semifinals, and the championship game^[31]

National Lacrosse League

• ESPN3: 8 regular season games (simulcast of Canadian TSN and TSN2 broadcasts^[32]

College Lacrosse

Varsity lacrosse

• NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship: First round and Quarterfinal matches on ESPNU, Semifinals on ESPN2, Final on ESPN. Effective with the 2011 tournament, internet streaming on Turner (possibly through its administration of the official NCAA website).
• CBS Sports Network: NCAA Division II and III Men's Finals and NCAA Division I, II and III Women's Finals. Streaming on Turner (again, possibly through NCAA.com).
• Nationally-televised regular-season games appear on CBS Sports Network, Fox College Sports and ESPNU.

Club Lacrosse

• MCLA: Semifinals and Championship of both division 1 and 2 broadcast nationally on Fox College Sports, usually the Pacific affiliate. Championships also simulcast on the MCLA website.
• BYUtv Sports: At least one home MCLA game featuring BYU, but BYUtv Sports has rights to all home games.

International Lacrosse

• ESPNU & ESPN3: FIL World Lacrosse Championship

Motor sports

NASCAR

Fox Sports and NBC Sports have contracts for all NASCAR events through at least 2024.

• Sprint Cup Series
  • Fox Sports airs the first 16 races.
    • Fox airs ten races, including the Daytona 500, plus the Sprint Unlimited until 2016.
    • Fox Sports 1 airs six races, plus the Sprint Unlimited beginning in 2017, Budweiser Duels, and Sprint All-Star Race.
    • Fox Deportes will air multiple races in 2016 in Spanish.
  • NBC Sports airs the final 20 races.
    • NBC airs seven races, including the Coke Zero 400 and the season ending race.
    • NBCSN airs thirteen races. possibly CNBC if a sports conflict.
    • Telemundo Deportes airs the final 20 races in Spanish.
• Xfinity Series
  • Fox Sports airs the first 14 races.
    • Fox airs four races; Fox Sports 1 airs ten races.
  • NBC Sports airs the final 19 races.
    • NBC airs four races; NBCSN airs fifteen races.
• Camping World Truck Series
  • Fox Sports 1 airs all races excluding the race at Talladega, which airs on Fox.
• Other series
  • NBC Sports has exclusive rights to all remaining NASCAR series. NBCSN (and possibly CNBC) will air 39 races from the K&N Pro Series East, K&N Pro Series West, Whelen Modified Tour, and Whelen Southern Modified Tour in 2015. NBC Universo will air select Toyota Series races in 2015 as well.

IndyCar

• Verizon IndyCar Series
  • NBC Sports (NBCSN and NBC Deportes) and ESPN (ABC) have contracts through 2018 in English and Spanish. Coverage is as follows:
    • ABC airs the Indianapolis 500, 4 other races, and time trials for the Indianapolis 500.
    • NBCSN or (rarely, in the event of schedule conflicts) CNBC air the remaining races.
• Indy Lights
  • NBC Sports (NBCSN and NBC Deportes)
• Pro Mazda Championship
  • NBC Sports (NBCSN and NBC Deportes)
• U.S. F2000 National Championship
  • NBC Sports (NBCSN and NBC Deportes)

Formula One

NBC Sports has English-language rights from 2013 through 2017. Races will be televised by NBC, NBCSN or CNBC and streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra.^[33][34]

Univision Deportes Network has Spanish-language rights.

Other

• United SportsCar Championship: Fox Sports
• Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge: Fox Sports
• 24 Hours of Le Mans: Fox Sports
• National Hot Rod Association: Fox Sports
• MotoGP: beIN Sports
• AMA Supercross Championship: Fox Sports
• Arenacross: Fox Sports
• AMA EnduroCross Championship: MAVTV
• Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: MAVTV
• World Rally Championship: MAVTV
• Global RallyCross Championship: NBC Sports
• Dakar Rally: NBCSN
• ARCA Racing Series: Fox Sports/CBS Sports Network
• World Touring Car Championship: TBA
• V8 Supercars: CBS Sports Network
• Formula E: Fox Sports
• Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters: CBS Sports Network
• Formula Drift: CBS Sports Network
• FIA World Endurance Championship: Fox Sports
• Superbike World Championship: BeIN Sports
• FIA World Rally Cross Championship (WRX): BeIN Sports

Multi-discipline events

• Olympic Games: NBCUniversal (NBC, NBCSN, NBC Universo, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Golf Channel, Telemundo) has rights to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games through 2032.^[35]
• Pan American Games: ESPN and ESPN Deportes
• Special Olympics World Games: ESPN
• Universiade: ESPN3
• Invictus Games: ESPN3
• Commonwealth Games: CBS Sports Network daily highlights.^[36]

Rugby

Rugby league

• National Rugby League: Fox Sports 2 and Fox Soccer Plus televise 4 matches from each round, two on each channel. All matches are available from Fox Soccer 2Go.^[37]
• State of Origin: Fox Sports 2 televises all three games of the series.^[37]
• European Super League and Challenge Cup: Fox Soccer Plus airs all televised SL matches, select matches from the Rugby League Championship and all televised Challenge Cup ties, including the final. The Super League Grand Final airs on Fox Sports 2.

Rugby union

• European Six Nations Championship: (pay per event or per season - http://www.premiumsports.tv/premusa/rugby/) and beIN SPORTS
• The Rugby Championship: ESPN3
• Americas Rugby Championship: ESPN3
• Super Rugby: ESPN3
• Top 14: ESPN3
• European Rugby Champions Cup: ESPN3
• European Rugby Challenge Cup: ESPN3
• Currie Cup: ESPN3
• Mitre 10 Cup: ESPN3
• National Rugby Championship: ESPN3
• World Rugby Under 20 Championship: ESPN3
• World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup: ESPN3
• Pro12: beIN Sports
• Test matches: ESPN3

NBC Sports has rights to:

• 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup
• 2015 Rugby World Cup^[38]
• Varsity Cup Championship
• English Premiership

Rugby sevens

NBC Sports has rights to:

• The HSBC Sevens World Series, including the USA Sevens. Matches are televised on NBC and NBCSN.^[39]
• Collegiate Rugby Championship

Soccer

FIFA

Fox, FS1, FS2 in English, and Telemundo, NBC Universo, NBC Deportes in Spanish, have television rights to all FIFA events from 2015 to 2026 including the following:^[40]

• 2018, 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cup
• 2015, 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
• 2017, 2021 and 2025 FIFA Confederations Cup

UEFA

ESPN, in English and Univision in Spanish, has rights to UEFA events through 2022 including the following:^[41]

• UEFA Euro 2020
  • UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
• UEFA Nations League
• European 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
• European 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers: ESPN2, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Soccer Plus, ESPN3 and Fox Soccer 2go.

Fox Sports has rights to the following:^[42]

• UEFA Champions League from 2012–2013 through 2017–2018.
  • Through 2017-18, Fox has sublicensed a package of games to ESPN2, ESPN3 (in English and Spanish) and ESPN Deportes (in Spanish).
• UEFA Europa League from 2012–2013 through 2017–2018.
• UEFA Super Cup from 2012 through 2014.

ESPN Deportes has rights to the following:

• UEFA Champions League from 2014–2015 through 2017–2018. (2016 and 2018 Finals). (Some Matches on ESPN2).
• UEFA Europa League from 2014–2015 through 2017–2018.
• UEFA Super Cup in 2015 and 2017.

CONMEBOL

• Copa Libertadores: Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer Plus
• Copa Sudamericana: Fox Deportes
• Copa América: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)^[43]
  • Copa America Centenario: Fox Sports (English), Univision (Spanish)
• 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)

CONCACAF

FS1, in English, has rights to CONCACAF events from 2012 to 2016 including the following:^[44][45]

• CONCACAF Gold Cup
• CONCACAF Champions League

Univision Deportes, in Spanish and Portuguese, has rights to CONCACAF events from 2012 to 2022 including the following:^[46][47]

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: Matches will be televised on Univision, UniMás, Galavisión, and UDN, and will be streamed online and on mobile.
• CONCACAF Champions League: Matches will be televised on Univision, UniMás, Galavisión, and UDN, and will be streamed online and on mobile.
• 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification: beIN Sports (English, except USA home matches and Mexico home matches)

USA Soccer

U.S. Men's National Team

ESPN and Fox Sports will split the English language rights for U.S. Soccer broadcasts from 2015 to 2022 with games to be split evenly between ESPN and Fox Sports 1. Univision has the Spanish language rights to all U.S. Soccer broadcasts from 2015 to 2022 with all games airing on Univision Deportes.^[48]

Major League Soccer

• ESPN/ESPN2: At least 34 matches per season, including a weekly Sunday 5 pm ET telecast on ESPN2, a share of MLS Cup Playoff matches, MLS Cup in alternating years, MLS All-Star Game in alternating years.
• Fox Sports: At least 34 matches per season, including a weekly Sunday 7 pm ET telecast on Fox Sports 1, a share of MLS Cup Playoff matches, MLS Cup in alternating years, MLS All-Star Game in alternating years.
• Univision: At least 34 matches per season, including a weekly Friday 7 pm ET or 11 pm ET telecast on UniMas, two MLS Cup Playoff matches, and Spanish rights to the MLS Cup and MLS All-Star Game on Univision. UDN will televise 5-7 Friday doubleheaders in May and June.

National English-language radio rights are held exclusively by SiriusXM Satellite Radio through its SiriusXM FC brand, while Spanish-language rights are held exclusively by ESPN Deportes Radio.

Games not televised nationally are aired by regional sports networks or local broadcast television stations. Teams may also have a contract with a local radio broadcaster to air their games. Some teams air games exclusively in Spanish on radio, others have English only or an English and Spanish radio broadcaster.

Other U.S. Soccer Leagues

• NASL: ESPN3, beIN Sports, CBS Sports Network, GOL TV (Miami FC home matches) and ONE World Sports (New York Cosmos)
• United Soccer League: ESPN3
• National Women's Soccer League: FS1 will televise the NWSL Final, two semi-finals, and three regular season games.^[49][50] All games not nationally televised are streamed on the NSWL channel on YouTube. (English)

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

• Final airs on ESPN2 (in English) and UDN in Spanish

College Soccer

• College Cup: ESPNU

National Teams

• 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC): ESPN3

Friendly games

• England national football team: Fox Sports (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish)
• Spain national football team: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Germany national football team: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• France national football team: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Italy national football team: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• Argentine national football team: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Brazil national football team: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• Mexico national football team matches played in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.: Univision (Spanish) and Fox Sports (English)
• Mexico national football team matches played in Central America and the Caribbean: Telemundo (Spanish) and beIN Sports (English)

National Competitions

English Club

• Premier League: NBC, NBCSN, and USA (English); and Telemundo and NBC Universo (Spanish) (through 2021-22 season)^[51]
• Football League Championship: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• FA Cup: Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Soccer Plus (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish)
• Football League Cup: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• FA Community Shield: Fox Sports 1 (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish)

Spanish Club

• La Liga: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• Copa del Rey: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
  • Copa del Rey Final: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Supercopa de España: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)

Italian Club

• Serie A: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and Rai Italia (Italian)
• Coppa Italia: Gol TV (English and Spanish)
• Supercoppa Italiana: N/A

German Club

• Bundesliga: FOX, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Soccer Plus,^[52] Fox Deportes (Spanish) and Gol TV (Spanish)
• DFB-Pokal: ESPN3 (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• DFL-Supercup: Fox Soccer Plus (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish)

French Club

• Ligue 1: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and TV5 Monde (French)
• Coupe de France: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and TV5 Monde (French)
• Coupe de la Ligue: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and TV5 Monde (French)
• Trophée des Champions: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and TV5 Monde (French)

Mexican Club

• Liga MX
  • Matches hosted by América, Cruz Azul, Guadalajara, Chiapas, León, Querétaro, UANL, Monterrey, Necaxa, UNAM, Puebla, Santos Laguna and Toluca are broadcast live in the United States by Univision, UDN, Unimas or Galavisión (Spanish).
  • Matches hosted by Atlas, Monarcas Morelia, Tijuana and Veracruz are broadcast in the United States by Azteca.
  • Matches hosted by Pachuca are broadcast in the United States by Telemundo.
• Ascenso MX
  • GolTV: 4 or 5 games per week and Mexican playoffs (Liguilla)
  • Mexico TV: one game

Other

• International Champions Cup: ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Primeira Liga: GolTV (Benfica Home Matches, English and Spanish), UDN (Except Benfica Home Matches, Spanish) and Sport TV Américas (Portuguese)
• Taça de Portugal: GolTV (English and Spanish) and RTP Internacional (Portuguese)
• Eredivisie: UDN (Spanish)
• KNVB Cup: beIN Sports (English and Spanish)
• Scottish Premier League: Fox Soccer Plus (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish)
• Scottish Cup: GolTV (English and Spanish)
• Russian Cup: ESPN3
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: GolTV (English and Spanish) and TV Globo (Portuguese)
• Copa do Brasil: beIN Sports (English and Spanish) and TV Globo (Portuguese)
• Campeonato Paulista: GolTV (English and Spanish) and TV Globo (Portuguese)
• Campeonato Carioca: GolTV (English and Spanish) and TV Globo (Portuguese)
• Primera División Argentina: TyC Sports USA (Spanish)
• A-League: ESPN3
• W-League: ESPN3
• J1 League: ONE World Sports (English) and NHK World Premium (Japanese)
• K-League Classic: KBS World (Korean)

Swimming

NBC Sports has rights to the following events with coverage varying on NBC and NBCSN

• World Swimming Championships
• Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
• United States Swimming National Championships

Tennis

Australian Open

• ESPN and Tennis Channel have the contracts. Coverage is aired on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Tennis Channel and DirecTV.

French Open

• NBC Sports and Tennis Channel have the contracts through 2024. Coverage is aired on NBC, NBCSN, Tennis Channel and DirecTV.
  • Tennis Channel shows live coverage in the morning and afternoon on weekdays. NBC shows weekend morning and Memorial Day early round matches in the afternoon via tape delay. If a match is still being played, it will be shown live. Tennis Channel cannot show NBC's tape delayed matches. NBC also airs one women's semifinal and one men's semifinal, broadcasting live in the Eastern Time Zone, delayed in all other time zones. NBCSN also broadcasts the second men's semifinal, live in all time zones. NBC broadcasts both finals live, and NBCSN broadcasts the women's doubles final live.

The Championships, Wimbledon

• ESPN^[53][54] has the contract through 2023. Tennis Channel and DirecTV also provide coverage. Coverage is as follows:
  • Days 1-6: ESPN, ESPN3 and DirecTV
  • Day 7: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and DirecTV
  • Days 8 and 9: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3
  • Days 10-13 including the ladies' and gentlemen's singles finals: ESPN and ESPN3
  • Same-day replays are aired on Tennis Channel throughout the tournament. Highlights of the first week are aired on the middle Sunday on ABC. Same-day replays of the ladies' and gentlemen's singles finals are aired on ABC.

US Open

• ESPN has the contract through 2025. Tennis Channel and DirecTV also provide coverage. Coverage is as follows:
  • Arthur Ashe Kids' Day: ABC
  • Days 1-5: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and DirecTV
  • Days 6-8: ESPN2, ESPN3, and DirecTV
  • Days 9-10: ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3
  • Day 11: women's singles semifinals: ESPN
  • Day 12: mixed doubles final: ESPN2, men's singles semifinals: ESPN
  • Day 13: men's doubles final: ESPN3, women's singles final: ESPN
  • Day 14: women's doubles final: ESPN3, men's singles final: ESPN
  • A daily preview show, same-day highlights and a daily wrap-up show are aired on Tennis Channel throughout the tournament.^[55]

ATP World Tour Finals

• ESPN2, ESPN3 and Tennis Channel

ATP World Tour Masters 1000

• ESPN (Indian Wells, Miami, Canada and Cincinnati) and Tennis Channel

ATP World Tour 500

• Tennis Channel

ATP World Tour 250

• Tennis Channel and beIN Sports

WTA Finals

• beIN Sports^[56]

WTA Premier tournaments

• ESPN (Indian Wells, Miami, Canada, Cincinnati, Stanford and New Haven)^[57]
• Tennis Channel (Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, and Canada)^[58]
• beIN Sports (Except U.S. Tournaments and Canadian Open)^[59]

WTA International tournaments

• beIN Sports (Except Washington Open)^[60]
• Tennis Channel (Washington Open)^[61]

Davis Cup

• Tennis Channel

Fed Cup

• Tennis Channel

US Open Series

• ESPN2 and ESPN3

World TeamTennis

• ESPN2 (final only) and ESPN3

International Premier Tennis League

• Tennis Channel

Track & Field (Athletics)

• IAAF: NBC Sports through 2019 including^[62]
  • IAAF World Championships in Athletics
  • IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics
  • IAAF World Cross Country Championships
  • IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics
• IAAF Diamond League: beIN Sports

Winter Sports

• US Figure Skating Championships: NBC
• Alpine Skiing: NBC Sports
• Bobsledding: NBC Sports

Miscellaneous

• UFC bouts air on Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes
• Bellator MMA bouts air on ESPN Deportes and Spike TV
• Glory (kickboxing): ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes
• ISAF Sailing World Cup: ESPN3
• PDC World Cup of Darts: ESPN3
• Kabaddi World Cup: ESPN3
• America's Cup: NBCSN
• CEV Women's Champions League: ESPN3
• Italian Women's Volleyball League: ESPN3
• FIVB Volleyball World League: NBCSN
• Association of Volleyball Professionals: NBCSN
• Professional Bull Riders: CBS and CBS Sports have television rights in 2013.^[63][64]
• Professional Bowlers Association: ESPN
• Australian Football League: Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports 2, and WatchAFL^[65]
• USA Ultimate College Championships and Triple Crown Tour: ESPNU and ESPN3
• World Equestrian Games: NBC
• Golden Boy Promotions: Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2
• Premier Boxing Champions: NBC, NBCSN, Spike, CBS, CBS Sports Network, Bounce TV, ESPN, ABC, FOX, FS1 (English); NBC Deportes, Fox Deportes, ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
• Hockey World League: Willow (2015)^[66]
• Gaelic Athletic Association: beIN Sports

References