NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus on the Olympics, NASCAR and More

The extended trek underlines a busy second half of the year with NBC Sports Group revving up its sophomore season with NASCAR its first of aamp160multiyearamp160pact with the Open Championship the Olympic Games theamp160returnamp160of the Premier League an expanded NFL slateamp160Notre Dame football and the start of the 201617 NHL seasonAll of these events and others will amp8220put more eyeballs on NBC Sports Group than any other sports media outlets in the second half of the yearamp8221 Lazarus saidMore immediately NBC on June 11 will come out of the gate with coverage of thoroughbred racingamp8217s Belmont Stakesamp160 quotWe won39t have the excitement ofamp160Triple Crownamp160but the Belmont Stakes is a great eventamp8221 Lazarus asserted alluding to American Pharoahamp8217s triumph in 2015On the ice NBC Sports Group rang up a 7 audience increase during the NHLamp8217s regular season but has been hurt by the early exit of the Chicago Blackhawks the defending champions and the winners of three of the past five Cups This year the Pittsburgh Penguins are clashing with the San Jose Sharks for the right to hoist Lord Stanley39s cherished hardwareRunning from July 1417 the Open Championship tees off anamp160unprecedented run that includes theamp160Olympics the Ryder Cup and theamp160Fedamp160Examp160playoffs amp160Golf Channel will present history with the return of the sport toamp160the Games via more than 130 hours of live coverageamp160quotTheamp160men and womenamp160areamp160excited to be representing their countries and compete for the first gold medal in 112 yearsquot Lazarus exclaimedAs to the Olympics overall Lazarus said NBC Sports Groupamp8217s coverage won39t ignore stories about Brazil39s laggingamp160economy andamp160infrastructureamp160polluted waters and the threat of theamp160Zika virus butamp160reminds all concerned that quotwe39reamp160hereamp160to coveramp160theamp160competitionamp8221With a significant amount of theamp160actionamp160unfolding live in primetimeamp160including what Lazarus calls quotthe beauty pageantry mythamp160and partyamp160atmosphereamp160ofamp160Brazil and theamp160strength of Team USAamp8221 he has amp8220very high expectationsamp8221 that the 6000 hours of crossplatform coverage will draw viewers in record numbers on TV andamp160digitalLazarus characterizedamp160nationalamp160adamp160sales as quotpretty healthy We wereamp160north of 1 billionamp160and have added another big chunkquot he said declining to elaborateamp160quotThere is not much more ground to coverquotamp160amp160amp160The Rio Olympics are also generating salesamp160foramp160NBCamp160ownedandoperated stations andamp160affiliatesamp160quotThat39s part of the value proposition Gamesamp160bringamp8221 Lazarus explained amp8220There are lots of opportunitiesquotHeamp160maintains that39s the case with the Premier League even though NBC Sports Group has netted a 134 audience rise from Fox Sportsamp8217 and ESPN39s level since it took over with the 201314 campaign The company kick offs its new sixyear 1 billion rights deal in August and Lazarus envisions more viewers as fans embrace more teams like Leicesteramp160CIty which improbably lifted the winneramp8217s trophy this past campaignWith NBCSN serving Premier League matches on Saturday as well as Formula 1 racing and rugby and Golf Channel offering European tour coverage NBC Sports Group has successfully created anotheramp160daypart live programming that is attractive to viewers and advertisers on Saturday and Sunday morningsamp160quotWe have beenamp160pioneers in that respect and others will follow like Fox did with Germany39s top futbol leagueamp160the BundesligaquotAveraging a 130 rating and 225 million viewersamp160amp8220Sunday Night Footballamp8221 was the top show in primetime for a fifthamp160straight year matching previous skeins by amp8220All in the Familyamp8221 and amp8220The Cosby Showamp8221 and standing one behindamp160amp8220Americanamp160Idol39samp8221 record amp8220SNFamp8221 has been tops among adults 18 to 49 six years runningAs toamp160the additionamp160of five amp8220Thursday Night Footballamp8221 gamesamp160late in theamp160season which will be simulcast with NFL Networkamp160Lazarusamp160expects NBCamp8217s ratings to be on par with CBSamp8217s telecasts from last season and what that network generates with its five early season amp8220TNFamp8221 matchups in 2016While NBC will resume airingamp160Notre Dame home football games for the 26th straight year this fall it doesnamp8217t sound like the programmer will tackle Big Ten gridiron and basketball rights amp8220Weamp8217re interested at the right price but are not a likely candidateamp8221 he said calling the property amp8220nice toamp160haveamp160butamp160not must haveamp8221amp160 He said NBCamp160has made amp8220a lot of big bets elsewhere and we would be well servedamp8221amp160to pay close attention to those holdings That includes auto racing whereamp160it crowns Formula 1 Indy Car and NASCAR championsamp160 For the most part he said the circuits have amp8220distinct setsamp160of fans with some overlapamp160It39s our job to broaden that overlapquotThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet management or associated bloggersamp160

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NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus on the Olympics, NASCAR and More

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"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus on the Olympics, NASCAR and More

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J.P. Fields

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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