This week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills marks the first under the USGA’s new media deal with NBC Sports and Versant, and it comes with an interesting twist, writes SBJ’s Josh Carpenter. The third golf major of 2026 will once again have a minimum 25 hours of coverage across the week.
The change will come late on Thursday and Friday afternoon. It’s been a rite of passage over the years at the Open, with lesser-known players or amateur qualifiers filling the television window as the network closed out its weekday coverage in the early evening hours. Since NBC picked up the USGA’s rights again in 2020, Peacock would carry that final hour of coverage.
Instead, the NBC broadcast network will carry coverage through its conclusion on Friday (1:30-7:30pm ET). On Thursday, the final hours of play will still air on Peacock, but they’ll also air on NBC Sports Network for MVPDs like Comcast and YouTube TV that have ingestion deals (5-8pm). It means weekday tee times for big-name players will be pushed back (those haven’t been released yet) and it also will give NBC coverage in a near-primetime window (likely a viewership boost).
“We always peak at the very end of a broadcast for golf,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella told SBJ when the deal was struck. “That time between 7-8 [pm] is a great time for golf.”
