How NBC Sports' Rick Cordella Plans To Turn Its Multibillion Dollar February Into Profits

Summary

CNBC's Alex Sherman interviews NBC Sports President Rick Cordella about NBC Sports' 'Legendary February,' a rare stretch featuring the Super Bowl, Milan-Cortina Olympics, NBA All-Star Weekend, and Sunday night basketball. Cordella explains how the company produces and monetizes the events, including sold-out advertising, Peacock subscriber acquisition, distribution leverage, and halo effects across Comcast's broader businesses. He also discusses the Versant spin-off, NBC's sports portfolio including MLB and World Cup, and the possibility of extending NFL media rights.

• NBC Sports is preparing for a concentrated February slate with the Super Bowl, Milan-Cortina Olympics, NBA All-Star Weekend, and Sunday night basketball.
• The company says advertising is sold out across the three major properties and February can drive Q1 ad sales.
• Rick Cordella says major sports events are profitable and create halo effects across Comcast and NBCUniversal.
• Live sports helps Peacock acquire subscribers and reduce churn, with users then sampling entertainment content.
• Tier-one sports content supports the pay-TV bundle and retransmission/distribution negotiations.
• The Versant spin-off requires programming collaboration for some Olympic events on spun-off cable networks.
• NBC's sports portfolio also includes MLB and Telemundo's World Cup rights.
• Cordella says NBC/Comcast want to stay in business with the NFL long-term and are open to extension talks.