Business News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. NBC splurges $8 billion on sports to combat Netflix and Amazon Share this: Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X By Bloomberg | wordpress@medianewsgroup.com | Bloomberg PUBLISHED: February 6, 2026 at 7:29 AM PST | UPDATED: February 6, 2026 at 8:46 AM PST Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By Hannah Miller, Bloomberg After Comcast Corp. co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Cavanagh finishes watching the Super Bowl alongside NBC advertisers and business partners in Northern California Sunday night, he’ll hop on a flight to Italy, where his company’s broadcast division is also covering the Winter Olympics. It will be a brief trip. He needs to be back in California in time for the NBA All-Star Game, which airs the following Sunday on the network. Related Articles This vaccine reduces risk of melanoma coming back. Can it work for other cancers? NYC investors grab Silicon Valley tech building for $300 million-plus Kalshi prediction market slaps ex-Rep. George Santos with lifetime ban ICE explores purchasing robot dogs in enforcement tech push Tech company buys San Jose buildings for potential expansion site The trifecta of major sporting events is the foundation of what Comcast is calling “Legendary February” – a streak of high-profile live broadcasts that the company hopes will lure a surge of viewers to its TV networks and streaming services. As Comcast aims to keep up with competitors such as Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Walt Disney Co., it’s gambling that viewers, and advertisers, will remain loyal to sports. The company will spend more than $8 billion this year on sports rights, including the Olympics, NBA, Major League Baseball, World Cup soccer, professional wrestling and NFL. That’s more than double what Comcast laid out four years ago, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “The caliber of the content I think really rings true in an age of a lot of clutter,” Cavanagh said in an interview. Cavanagh, who became co-CEO alongside Brian Roberts last month, has taken the lead on straightening out the cable and internet giant’s entertainment portfolio. He spun off cable channels like MS Now and CNBC, slimming the company’s network offerings to NBC, Telemundo, Bravo and the Peacock streaming service. Comcast also made an unsuccessful play for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Executives at the Philadelphia-based company say they’re happy with the assets they have. And despite the intricate logistics involved in broadcasting the three events from multiple locations, Cavanagh said it’s worth it. For NBC, it’s a way to strengthen its relationship with advertisers, by selling a cohesive package of programming over the course of the year. This is the first time in almost 25 years that the network has had media rights to pro basketball after joining Disney and Amazon in a $76 billion deal with the NBA in 2024. The accord has helped fill in sports gaps in NBC’s broadcast calendar. NBC has already seen some benefits from this month’s lineup. The network sold out of its ad inventory for all three events, with the Super Bowl reaching a record price of more than $10 million for an individual ad. NBC offered package deals where advertisers could buy spots for multiple events. NBC is also using the moment to celebrate its 100th anniversary by tying various businesses together. Throughout the events, the network will promote new shows and films from Comcast’s Universal Pictures, including the new Minions and Super Mario Bros. movies, as well as Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi flick Disclosure Day. The Super Bowl will also lead into a new television series on the Peacock streaming service called The ’Burbs. “The reach and the power are undeniable,” Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment, said in an interview. “It’s great that we have these properties to take advantage of.” NBC is hoping that Peacock, which launched in 2020, will benefit from America’s premier sporting events and thousands of hours of Olympics coverage. All Olympics content, including the Opening Ceremony, will be available on the platform. That’s 3,200 hours of coverage, up from 2,800 hours during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to Matt Strauss, chairman of NBCUniversal’s media group. NBC’s growing sports portfolio has made Peacock more attractive to outside partners, Strauss said in an interview. NBC struck bundled deals with Apple TV and Walmart Inc.’s membership club last year. For the Winter Games, Peacock has built on features it used during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, such as letting viewers select and view content by sport. There’s a Rinkside Live option that allows fans to switch to different camera views during figure skating and hockey. An interactive Olympics hub on Peacock displays medal counts. For the Peacock mobile app, fans can scroll through highlight clips and play trivia and prediction games. “The big important events are definitely ones, especially sports, that will drive some level of sign-up activity,” Cavanagh said. Peacock subscribers grew 22% to 44 million between 2024 and 2025, Comcast reported in its latest financial results. The platform has a higher rate of cancellations than other streaming services, according to Antenna data. A $3-a month price increase to $11 may have contributed to that, Strauss said. Still, Peacock is less expensive than some of its competitors, he noted. Winning a share of NBA rights has been beneficial to Peacock and NBC more broadly, according to Cavanagh. Some NBA games have even been made exclusive to the service, which, like the Olympics experience, offers a Courtside Live view with different camera angles. In the latest quarter, Comcast reported a nearly 33% decline in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the division that includes Peacock and NBC, in part because of the expense of the NBA rights. After making progress over the previous couple years, Peacock reported a loss of $552 million in the final quarter of 2025, an increase of 48% from the year before. That revelation, as well as declining viewership for the NBA last season, caused some in the industry to question whether the deal was worth it. “Getting the NBA may help slow down the rate at which people defect for other platforms, but it’s certainly not going to stop it,” Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC, said in an interview. “You’re saddled with a really large and costly contract, and it’s not going to be easy to figure out how to generate enough viewership and advertising revenue to earn a return.” Cavanagh said NBC is still committed to pursuing sports rights, including renewing its partnership with the NFL, which is exploring taking an early opt-out of its current media rights deals. While the league will likely want to bring on newer players in broadcast and streaming, Cavanagh doesn’t think it will leave behind its traditional partners. “It’d be a shame and a surprise if we’re not right in the thick of everything as the next five years of opportunities to extend rights or get rights come along,” he said. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com ©2026 Bloomberg L.P. 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