USA Sports

USA Sports was the branding used for broadcasts of sporting events by the cable channel

Meanwhile, HBO began simulcasting some MSG games in 1972 beginning with the Rangers/Vancouver Canucks game on November 8, 1972 (the first ever program televised on HBO, to a few subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania). 1974–75 marked the only year in which HBO used MSG announcers for their feed. Because HBO is a premium cable service, this created a burden on announcers to fill in dead airtime on HBO while commercials aired on MSG Network. HBO did not broadcast Knicks or Rangers games after the 1976–77 season.

When the MSG/HBO marriage ended in 1977, Madison Square Garden proceeded to seek a new partner to launch a national network to show off its events. So for several years, beginning with the 1977–78 season, all MSG home events (such as those involving the Knicks, Rangers, etc.) were then televised on a fledgling network that would eventually become known as the USA Network. This channel, which debuted on September 22, 1977, was basically a continuation of the existing MSG Network. The key difference however, was that it was now nationally syndicated via satellite rather than terrestrially. It was also the first cable channel to be supported by advertising revenues. By this time (as previously alluded to), the channel was officially called the “Madison Square Garden Network” or MSG Network.

As USA Network

In

In 1979,[3] 22 Major League Baseball teams (all but the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals) participated in a one-year cable deal with United Artists Television and Columbia Pictures Television, then-owners of the USA Network.^[4] The deal involved the airing of a Thursday night Game of the Week^[5] in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park.^[6] The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40–45 games per season.^[7][8] The program ran through the 1983 season.^[9][10]

1980s

During USA's first three seasons (1980-1982) broadcasting college football, they broadcast several games (they in essence, cherry picked games from regional and national syndicators like Raycom, Mizlou, and Katz) a week. These broadcasts were shown on a tape delayed basis as much as two days later. USA's telecast of the 1981 Liberty Bowl was the first college bowl game to be exclusively broadcast on cable television.

Mazda SportsLook with host

USA aired college basketball games from the Big East Conference leading up to their coverage of the 1983 Big East tournament.^[12] USA also had rights to games from the Big Ten, ACC, and the old Metro Conference.

Regular season college basketball games^[13] aired on Thursday nights^[14] or Saturdays^[15] under the title of College Basketball... followed by the corresponding year during the season such as College Basketball '87.^[16] The games were subject to local blackouts. By this time,^[17] USA was airing games involving the Southeastern Conference (such as the Mississippi and Mississippi State^[18]) and games featuring UTEP and Wyoming.

USA also aired the National Invitation Tournament^[19] including the finals.

For USA's final four seasons (1983-1986) with college football, they narrowed their coverage to only one game a week. Initially, the games were selected from virtually every conference. However, in the later years, USA would frequently (but not exclusively) air games involving Pittsburgh, Penn State, Notre Dame, Boston College and Maryland. More to the point, by 1984, USA primarily aired games from the Big Eight Conference.

When the USA Network signed a three-year (running through the

USA also aired the Atlanta ARCA race in 1985 and televised several NASCAR Busch Series races in the late 1980s.

USA begins their coverage of the Masters

The USA Network began first and second round Masters coverage in 1982,^[24][25] which was also produced by the CBS production team. This was the first ever cable coverage for one of the golf majors. Initially, the USA Network provided Thursday and Friday coverage for 2 hours live each day along with a prime time replay.

Beginning in July 1982, USA Network broadcast professional ten-pin bowling matches from the PBA Tour every Thursday night.^[26]

After the USA Network lost the rights to the NHL to ESPN, they largely abandoned sports after the early 1990s as the channel shifted almost exclusively to scripted entertainment.

1990s

ABC Sports broadcast some games in both seasons, mostly on Sunday afternoons. ABC showed the 1991 World Bowl, while USA carried the game in 1992.

The reported cost of the

From 1994–2001 (before ESPN took over), USA was the American cable home of the French Open.

NBC Sports era

Programs throughout the years

Current and future programs

• IndyCar Series on NBC (from 2022)^[32]
  • Detroit Grand Prix (2022)^[33]
  • Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (2022)^[33]
• Premier League on NBC (2013–present)
• College Basketball on USA (1982–88) (2022–present)
  • Atlantic 10
    men's and women's regular season contests
  • Atlantic 10
    men's tournament, second round and quarterfinals
• NASCAR on NBC (from 2022)^[34]

Former programs

• College Basketball on USA (1982–88)
• College Football on USA (1980–86)
• Major Indoor Soccer League (1981–83)
• NASCAR on USA (1982–85)
  • UNO Twin 125s (1982-84
    )
• NBA on USA (1979–84)
• NHL on USA (1979–85)
  • Stanley Cup Finals (1981-85)
• North American Soccer League (1982–83)
• PBA on USA (1982–84)
• PGA Tour on USA
  (1982–2007, 2010)
  • The Masters tournament (1982–2007)
  • Ryder Cup (1989–2010)
• USA Network Thursday Night Baseball (1979–83)
• Tuesday Night Fights (1982–98)
• U.S. Open Tennis Championship (1984–2008)
  • French Open (1994-2001)
• World League of American Football (1991–92)
  • World Bowl '92

See also

• USA Network § Sports programming

References