Michael Phelps will join NBC for the Paris Olympics. Plus: Venues for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics come into focus; NBC and the IMSA reach media rights extension.
Phelps joins NBC for second Olympics
23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps will join NBC’s swimming coverage during the upcoming Paris Olympics, the network announced Friday. This will be the second time Phelps has pitched in on NBC’s Olympic coverage, having contributed as both a correspondent and analyst three years ago in Tokyo. When in the booth, Phelps will be joined by NBC Olympic staples Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines, who were previously announced as broadcasters for swimming at this year’s games.
Phelps will begin his summer broadcasting duties on Friday evening at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. Per release, he will appear across both daytime and primetime programming during the Paris Olympics.
NBC also announced two other talent assignments for its swimming coverage on Friday. Melissa Stark will serve as a reporter at París La Défense Arena, the venue for swimming events this summer, and former Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel will serve as a correspondent/analyst during the games. (NBC, 6.21)
Venues come into focus for 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles
An updated proposal for host venues at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics was released Friday, and included several changes to the original proposal submitted during the bidding process in 2017. Among the most impactful announcements is the decision to move softball from Los Angeles to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, home of the Women’s College World Series. The move allows for a much larger venue than the city of Los Angeles can provide — with Devon Park able to hold 13,000 fans at capacity as compared to just 2,000 fans at Los Angeles’ largest softball venue.
In addition, the LA28 committee announced venues for several other sports. Notably, gymnastics will be held at Crypto.com Arena, home to the Lakers. Swimming will be held at SoFi Arena, which will become the largest venue the sport has ever seen. Basketball will be held at the Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena. And lastly, track and field will remain at LA Memorial Coliseum, which will become the first venue to host track and field in three separate Olympics. (LA28, 6.21)
IMSA gets more broadcast exposure in new NBC deal
NBC has reached a multi-year media rights extension with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) that will increase broadcast exposure for the series, the network announced Friday. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has aired on NBC and USA since 2019, with the new agreement guaranteeing 17 hours of coverage on NBC each year.
Earlier this month, NBC lost a major part of its motorsports portfolio to Fox when the network inked a deal with IndyCar. That relationship dated back to 2019, and saw NBC increase its broadcast exposure over the course of the deal, with the network airing as many as 13 races on broadcast per year. With those windows now freed up, NBC has more room for the IMSA, which will increase its broadcast presence by nearly 50% in the new deal. All IMSA WeatherTech Championship races not airing on NBC will stream live on Peacock. (NBC, 6.21)
