NBC Sports Network, the cable-television sports channel of US network NBC, will use its coverage of English Premier League football to promote its NBCSN rebranding.
Coinciding with the launch of its Premier League coverage on Saturday, NBC Sports Group said that it would “significantly increase its efforts” to change the name of the network to NBCSN.
Starting with the Liverpool v Stoke City match on Saturday, NBC Sports Network will increasingly be referred to by commentators and within on-screen graphics as NBCSN.
Viewers will see and hear NBCSN with greater frequency across all NBC Sports Group platforms and marketing initiatives in the months leading up to the 2014 Sochi winter Olympic Games in February.
John Miller, chief marketing officer of NBC Sports Group, said: “The high-profile nature of our Premier League launch is the perfect platform to increase our campaign of branding NBC Sports Network as NBCSN. This is a natural evolution from the longer channel name to the acronym, as NBCSN is streamlined visually and a faster read. Premier League coverage will feature NBCSN as its primary mark. By the Winter Olympics in February, the transformation will be complete, and the Games will be used to solidify NBCSN as the network’s name and brand.”
NBC Sports Group’s parent company, NBCUniversal, has a three-year rights deal, from 2013-14 to 2015-16, for the top division of English football.
During the 2013-14 season, 154 matches will be shown live on NBC Sports Network, while 76 games will be offered live on Spanish-language channels Telemundo or Mun2.
The NBC network will broadcast 20 live games and 22 matches will be provided live on NBC Sports’ other channels.