Kikkan Randall 2014 FIS world cup XC individual sprint champion ©Nordic Focus

November 20, 2015 (Park City, UT) – Fans will have their greatest opportunity in history to watch competitive skiing and snowboarding this winter. NBCUniversal announced Monday that it has formally acquired Universal Sports Network assets from the World Championship Sports Network, including the rights to nearly all FIS World Cup events. It is expected that NBC Sports will air the complete global schedule of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Alpine tour this winter, along with a significant number of World Cup Nordic, Freestyle and Snowboarding events.

NBC Sports Group will utilize NBCUniversal’s family of networks, including NBCSN and Universal HD, to televise events. NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports’ live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will live stream events, including some digital-only programming. Universal Sports Network has ceased operations.

See full schedule here.

One of the key channels will be Universal HD, a network, which began in 2004 and presently airs replays of skiing events, as well as NBCSN, which is presently home to many USSA domestic events. Universal HD is available on most cable and satellite systems and will bring ski and snowboarding events to much larger audiences than in the past.

The planned coveragewill be greater than ever before for skiing and snowboarding. It comes on the heels of efforts by USSA to raise the level of awareness in America through innovative broadcast and streaming packages. That resulted in record ratings at last year’s Alpine World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek and growth in coverage of snowboarding and freestyle skiing in the U.S. Grand Prix.

Regarding NBC’s announcement, Michael Jaquet, Chief Marketing Officer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, said, “The global awareness of our stars combined with the pro-active work we have done to raise the profile of our sports in America have helped create much greater value for our content. NBC has been the best partner you can have and a big part of that growth. We now have an opportunity to bring exposure to our sports in America like never before and create a strong path to the Olympics in 2018 and beyond.”

Read the NBC release here.