The NBC Sports Network, which is best known for its coverage of the NHL and English Premier League, will be going away at the end of the year.
NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua announced the channel's shutdown on Friday in an internal memo to staff.
"At the conclusion of 2021, we have decided that the best strategic next step for our Sports Group and the entire Company is to wind down NBCSN completely," Bevacqua said in the memo.
NBCSN is available in 80.1 million homes, according to Nielsen's latest estimate, which is less than ESPN (83.1 million) and FS1 (80.2 million).
The channel was launched by Comcast in 1995 as the Outdoor Life Network. It was best known for carrying the Tour de France until it acquired the NHL in 2005. It changed its name to Versus in 2006 and then to NBC Sports Network six years later after Comcast bought NBC Universal in 2011.
Bevacqua said in the memo that Stanley Cup playoff games and More