Update 1/19/25: This video was posted to commemorate the final US Open broadcast by the USA Network in September 2008, ending its 25-tenure carrying the event. The US Open has aired on the ESPN networks ever since, and has been exclusively carried by ESPN/ABC since 2014. ESPN in 2024 reached a contract extension to continue carrying the US Open through 2037, meaning that by the end of the deal it will have carried coverage of the event for 29-straight years — far exceeding USA Network’s quarter-century run from 1984-2008.
The end of the US Open deal temporarily marked the end of USA Network as a real player in sports television, as the network lost rights to the Masters the same year (which also went to ESPN). In recent years (as of 2025), USA has again become a relevant sports broadcaster, serving as NBC Sports’ primary cable outlet after NBCSN shut down — carrying a number of NASCAR races, Premier League soccer matches and more. Its future is uncertain, as it was one of several NBCU networks spun off into a separate entity late last year (2024).
Before becoming part of the NBCU family in 2004 — it was owned by Vivendi Universal, which purchased NBC — USA Network had a long history of carrying major sports, including the NBA and NHL in the 1980s.
