NBC Sports exec on Golf Channel spinoff: ‘No one’s going to notice’

It’s a time of upheaval for the NBC Sports golf team, but you wouldn’t know it based on executive producer Sam Flood’s comments.

In the past couple of years, NBC Sports has dealt with a complete restructuring of its on-air talents. The network got rid of staples like Roger Maltbie, Gary Koch, and Paul Azinger, and replaced them with the likes of Kevin Kisner and Smylie Kaufman. It re-signed play-by-play voice Dan Hicks to a long-term deal, and strategically realigned resources to invest more in the bigger events, and a bit less on low-wattage tournaments.

But that was just the start.

Now, NBC Sports’ golf unit is facing a couple of significant changes. Golf Channel is being spun off as part of Versant, the new entity that will house most of NBCUniversal’s cable assets.

That hasn’t phased Flood, who spoke with James Colgan of Golf.com about a number of topics relevant to NBC’s golf coverage.

“I think, as a viewer, people really won’t know the difference,” Flood said of Golf Channel’s impending spinoff. “On a day to day basis, it really is going to be sleeves off a vest. No one’s going to notice. It’s really a back room business change. It’s all going to happen the same way, it’s just how the shekels are divided up.”

Along those lines, it seems like NBC is trying to make Golf Channel’s transition as seamless as possible. The network will remain in NBC Sports’ Stamford, Connecticut headquarters through at least 2026, per Colgan. And, outside of Golf Channel, NBC will be handling Versant’s ad sales for three years following the company’s launch. All indications point towards a true partnership post-spin.

But another big ticket item on Flood’s plate is media rights. Crucially, NBC finds itself in negotiations with the USGA over an expiring media rights contract that includes the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens. The network’s exclusive negotiating window expired earlier this year, but NBC is still interested in striking a deal.

“We saw what happened when the USGA came back to NBC [from Fox] — we saw how the USGA got elevated again to where it belongs as the premier events involved,” Flood said.

One other rumor that the executive producer addressed surrounded the format of the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship. The oft-criticized event has drawn quite a bit of scrutiny from golf fans over the years, with many clamoring for a match play-style event over stroke play. A common refrain in that argument has been a reluctance for match play from television networks, as it risks top players getting knocked out early.

Flood believes the opposite.

“There’s no question match play would work for the PGA Tour playoffs,” he said. “It would be dramatic for TV, and if it was done the right way, it could be one of the great moments in golf.”

Despite the uncertainty, NBC is showing no signs of giving up on golf. Quite the opposite, in fact. And while questions about the future of Golf Channel outside of the NBCUniversal umbrella will undoubtedly come up in the coming years, it doesn’t look like the network will be left on an island.

Golf coverage might change, but it’ll be more incremental than many industry observers might have thought.