Versus.com No More

[bugeyedgomer]

nbcsports.com
Effective Friday, Versus.com is now a part of NBCSports.com, and coverage you enjoyed on Versus.com, including the Tour de France, NHL Playoffs, mixed martial arts and hunting and fishing, can now be found at NBCSports.com.

Key sections formerly found at Versus.com can now be found at the links below:

Cycling
MMA
Outdoors
Fishing
Hunting
Professional Bull Riding
IndyCar Racing

[NickFalzone]

Cool.

[Jag_Warrior]

Weird. It took me to "nbcsports.msnbc.com" and Indycar is no where to be found unless you dig for it. Maybe the page rotates and an Indycar story will show up under top stories or something. But if that front page is any sign of how NBC feels about the IRL, I'd be a bit concerned.

[Jared East]

Does this mean VS is on it's way out too ? Comcast owns NBC now.

[nigelred5]

As the name of the channel, yes. That's fairly well documented in the media. Expect something to the effect of NBCSPORTSNET or NBCSportsChannel. I expect to the naming of most if not all of Comcast's Regional Sportsnet channels come under the NBC Sports banner fairly quickly. Comcast was definitely after the name and the over the air broadcast rights to expand their reach.

As host broadcaster of Indycar, not unless both sides are willing to break a 10 year contract.

[Marbles]

I don't know what terms Indycar has with ABC but i'd love to see somebody else get a shot at showing the Indy 500 because ABC\ESPN has treated it shabbily in recent years.

[Jag_Warrior]

From what I recall, NBC had no interest in Indy and/or the IRL the last time around. But maybe now that Comcast has control of NBC Sports, and they have the rights to most of the other IRL races, they will bid on Indy - unless the ratings tank again this year.

I would expect the Indy 500 ratings to be (at least) marginally higher this year, with all the 100th Anniversary hoopla. But that nasty downtrend that's been in place for so long won't/can't be fixed by just jumping to another network. IMO, the people at IMS need to come up with some ideas to drive higher viewership and fan interest, rather than leaving it up to others.

I'm checking the NBCsports.com page right now. There was a race yesterday and I don't see a single mention of the race or the series anywhere on the front page. In fact, the only mention of motorsports is at the top, where you can see some motorsports stories in the pulldown. And even there, the top (and the majority of) stories are NASCAR stories. But absolutely nothing on the front page about motorsports in general, or the IRL in particular. My guess is, Comcast (which reports earnings after the bell today) is worried about Comcast. And going forward, I don't think they're going to see it as their job to help anybody. I believe that they will help those series or sports than can help themselves. IMO, IMS needs to open the checkbook again next year and show the Comcast/NBC people that they're ready, willing and capable of carrying the water!

[dataman1]

What's in a name? If they don't improve distribution the results will be the same.

[nigelred5]

I think the Versus name alone has been a hindrance since the change from OLN. It screams "Spike". NBC Sports is well respected, and competing carriers will carry an NBC network and place it with other sports channels, especially if they follow the ESPN lead and move top level programming to the network.

Move 1 NFL game a week to the channel and it will be available within a month.

[dataman1]

I think the Versus name alone has been a hindrance since the change from OLN. It screams "Spike". NBC Sports is well respected, and competing carriers will carry an NBC network and place it with other sports channels, especially if they follow the ESPN lead and move top level programming to the network.

Move 1 NFL game a week to the channel and it will be available within a month.

Good point. If they do it great!

[Pat Wiatrowski]

I think the Versus name alone has been a hindrance since the change from OLN. It screams "Spike". NBC Sports is well respected, and competing carriers will carry an NBC network and place it with other sports channels, especially if they follow the ESPN lead and move top level programming to the network.

Move 1 NFL game a week to the channel and it will be available within a month.
The NFL would NEVER stand for that!

[nigelred5]

They already have in the past. Repeatedly. On top of moving games to the League's own pay channel.