Comcast reports quarterly earnings, including a $552 million loss for Peacock; Anthony Rizzo is reportedly “set to” be hired by NBC for its MLB coverage while Joey Votto is said to be finalizing a deal with the company as well; and Mike Tirico is reportedly “unlikely” to call baseball on the network. Plus news on Willie Randolph, Geoffrey Mason, MLB Network and the NHL Stadium Series.
Peacock registers $552 million quarterly loss as NBA rights hit Comcast balance sheet
The NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock generated 44 million subscribers in Q4 2025, up from 41 million the three prior quarters, but nonetheless suffered an adjusted EBITDA loss of $552 million. The fourth-quarter loss, which is up by $180 million year-over-year (48.4%) and its largest since Q1 2024, was attributed to higher programming costs on the service and “elevated sports rights expenses” for its linear networks, notably the addition of NBA rights and exclusive NFL game. NBCUniversal had projected its NBA deal (first reflected in Q4 2025 results) would result in losses finishing “between $500 million and $1.4 billion annually,” according to Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal.
Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong acknowledged on Thursday’s earnings call that the structure of the company’s sports rights payments, particularly that of the NBA, contributed to the Q4 declines. Those declines are expected to grow in Q1 with Peacock carrying more games. Armstrong: “Over time, we expect to offset this impact through advertising growth and subscriber acquisition and monetization across both Linear and Peacock.” Media segment revenue for Comcast as a whole fell by 140.9% to $122 million.
Compared to the previous quarter, Peacock’s adjusted EBITDA loss rose by $335 million, but it ended up improving overall by $711 million for the full year. NBCUniversal is preparing to embark on its “Legendary February” programming schedule that will include Super Bowl LX, the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and the NBA All-Star Game within a 17-day span. NBCUniversal is also adding MLB games to its portfolio this spring under a three-year pact said to be worth $200 million/year.
Comcast finished 2025 with revenue of $123.7 million, flat compared to the previous year, but improved its free cash flow by 53.4% to $19.2 billion. Armstrong also said that Comcast’s debt ratio will “increase slightly” as a result of the Versant tax-free spinoff. It should be noted that Versant, which became a publicly-traded company earlier this month, estimated last fall that it would launch with $2.25 billion of net debt at 1.0x leverage.
Rizzo reportedly “set to” be hired by NBC, Votto said to be finalizing deal
Former Chicago Cubs 1B and World Series champion Anthony Rizzo is “set to” be hired by NBC as a lead MLB analyst for studio coverage, according to a report by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. Rizzo officially retired from the league last September, approximately a year after playing in the World Series with the New York Yankees. While Rizzo has yet to be a regular on network broadcasts, he did appear in studio as a guest analyst for TBS in the postseason last year.
Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported later Thursday that former Cincinnati Reds 1B Joey Votto is in the process of finalizing a deal with NBC Sports to be part of its baseball coverage. Votto retired from the sport in August 2024 after a 17-year career in the major leagues, and McCarthy cited sources explaining that he “has been eyed as the No. 1 TV prospect by MLB media partners NBC, Netflix and ESPN.”
NBC will welcome Major League Baseball back to its sports portfolio this spring for the first time since 2000. The company has remained involved with MLB through its regional networks and two years of airing Sunday morning contests nationally on Peacock. Under its new three-year rights deal with MLB, the company will air a doubleheader on Opening Day, “Sunday Night Baseball,” the MLB Draft and the Wild Card Round across NBC and Peacock.
Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that NBC was “nearing a deal” with former Los Angeles Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw to be part of studio coverage. SBJ’s Karp wrote that Kershaw would only be participating in “a couple of weeks of work, and sometimes work alongside Bob Costas.” Furthermore, he cited sources explaining that while Jason Benetti is still the frontrunner for the play-by-play role, his Fox contract “runs into the summer.”
Tirico reportedly “unlikely” to call baseball for NBC Sports
NBC Sports voice Mike Tirico told Brian Steinberg of Variety that his “plate is way too full right now” to add baseball play-by-play duties. The lead voice of NBC’s NFL, NBA and Olympics coverage, Tirico said that he ‘hopes’ to get the chance to call a baseball game at some point, which he says he has yet to do in his career.
Tirico next week will call Super Bowl LX from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. next Sunday alongside analyst Cris Collinsworth and sideline reporters Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung. Once the game is complete, Tirico will go down to the field and host prime time Olympics coverage before heading to an airplane and traveling to Italy.
“It’s going to be easy,” Tirico told Sports Media Watch earlier this month. “I mean, people who have hard jobs, they’d be laughing at us if they saw what we were doing. We have people who are looking after us, making sure we get there, taking care of the travel arrangements. We’ll sleep a few hours on the plane, and then, ‘Let’s go.’ It’s not that hard — it’s fun.”
Outside of his Super Bowl and Olympics responsibilities, Tirico will also be on the microphone for the premiere of “Sunday Night Basketball” this Sunday, Feb. 1 as the New York Knicks face the Los Angeles Lakers from Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.
Plus: Willie Randolph, Geoffrey Mason, MLB Network, NHL Stadium Series
- Former New York Yankees 2B Willie Randolph is joining YES Network where he will serve as a studio analyst, it was announced on the network during its “Yankees Hot Stove” show on Wednesday. The news comes a few months after it was confirmed that studio analysts Jeff Nelson and Dave Valle will not be back on YES’ Yankees coverage next season.
- Earlier this week, award-winning producer, former ABC Sports EP and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame member Geoffrey Mason passed away at the age of 85. Mason, who held roles with ESPN, Fox Sports and NFL Network among other media entities, served as the coordinating producer for ABC when the network covered the hostage crisis from the Munich Olympics in 1972, and he was also a board member at both the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
- Rosters for the 2026 World Baseball Classic will be revealed on a 90-minute special edition of “MLB Tonight” airing next Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 PM ET featuring host Siera Santos, analyst Chris Young and reporter Jon Morosi. The show will also include MLB Network host Lauren Shehadi interviewing Team USA players Aaron Judge (Yankees, OF), Paul Skenes (Pirates, SP) and Tarik Skubal (Tigers, SP).
- The National Hockey League announced that the Dallas Stars will face the Vegas Golden Knights for a Stadium Series game in February 2027 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This contest will air on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 8 PM ET on ABC, marking the first time the Disney-owned broadcast network will air an outdoor NHL game since the 2024 Stadium Series from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
