network september 25 2006 as versus january 2 2012 relaunch ; as nbc sports network august 18 2013 renamed nbcsn owned by nbc sports group picture format 1080i hdtv downgraded to letterboxed 480i for sdtv feed slogan believe country united states language english broadcast area nationwide headquarters stamford connecticut formerly called outdoor life network 1995 2006 versus 2006 11 nbc sports network 2012 13 sister channel s nbc golf channel comcast sportsnet universal hd website nbc sports availability satellite dish network 159 directv 220 1220 on demand cable available on most cable systems check local listings iptv at & t u verse 1640 640 sd sky angel 328 sd google fiber nbcsn verizon fios 590 90 sd streaming media playstation vue internet protocol television sling tv internet protocol television nbcsn is an american digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the nbc sports group division of nbcuniversal . it originally launched on july 1 1995 as the outdoor life network oln which was dedicated to programming primarily involving fishing hunting outdoor adventure programs and outdoor sports . by the turn of the 21st century oln became better known for its extensive coverage of the tour de france but eventually began covering more mainstream sporting events resulting in its relaunch as versus in september 2006 . comcast the original owner of versus acquired a majority stake in nbc universal in 2011 . as a result comcast merged the operations of its cable channels with those of nbc . in particular it aligned the operation of its sports channels with nbc s sports division nbc sports . on january 2 2012 versus was rebranded as the nbc sports network with the on air branding later shortened to nbcsn to reflect these changes . as of september 15 2014 the entirety of nbc sports operations including nbcsn is based out of facilities in stamford connecticut . as of february 2015 nbcsn is available to approximately 81 578 000 pay television households 70.1 % of households with television in the united states . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 as the outdoor life network 1.1.1 oln and the nhl 1.2 as versus 1.3 merger with nbc sports 1.3.1 relaunch as the nbc sports network nbcsn 2 notable personalities 2.1 announcers reporters and hosts 2.2 hockey 2.3 motorsports 2.4 football 2.5 soccer 2.6 mixed martial arts 3 programming 3.1 event coverage 3.1.1 olympics 3.1.2 motor sports 3.1.3 soccer 3.1.4 hockey 3.1.5 rugby union 3.1.6 college sports 3.1.7 other sports 3.2 original programming 4 carriage disputes 5 high definition 6 references 7 external links history edit as the outdoor life network edit the channel originally launched as the outdoor life network or oln on july 1 1995 ; the name was licensed from outdoor life magazine . its programming consisted of hunting fishing and outdoor adventure shows . in its early days the channel reached around one million homes and found most of its carriage via the then infant platforms of direct broadcast satellite services and digital cable . 2 in 1999 oln acquired the u.s. broadcast rights to the tour de france for us 3 million . coverage of the tour on oln brought substantially greater viewership to the then fledgling channel due in part to the then growing popularity of american rider lance armstrong . in 2004 where armstrong would aim for a record breaking sixth straight tour de france title oln would devote over 344 hours in july to coverage of the tour along with documentaries and other original programming surrounding the event which was promoted through a 20 million advertising campaign . 3 overall while its coverage of the tour de france helped oln expand its carriage to over 60 million homes critics became concerned that oln s coverage had placed too much of its focus on armstrong as its main attraction for viewers and doubted if oln could sustain itself without the viewership that lance armstrong s presence had brought to its coverage . 2 some critics had jokingly referred to oln as the only lance network due to its overemphasis on the american rider . 4 following the 2005 tour where armstrong captured his seventh victory in the race and announced his retirement from cycling afterward oln debuted a new lineup of programming anchored by repeats of the popular reality television series survivor . oln s executives believed that bringing survivor into its lineup would fit well with the new direction it had planned for oln and could attract viewership from fans of the show who had watched it on cbs . 5 around the same period oln also acquired the rights to the dakar rally america s cup the boston marathon and the iditarod . oln planned to cover these multi day events in a similar style to how it covered the tour hoping that its coverage might bring surprise results for the channel . 5 due in part to lance s absence from the tour in 2006 its ratings for live coverage of the first four stages of the race drew in 49 % fewer viewers than previous years . 4 oln and the nhl edit oln interview with john lieswyn after him winning the stillwater mn criterion in 2005 in may 2005 espn rejected a 60 million offer to renew its broadcasting contract with the national hockey league into the 2005 06 nhl season and the league rejected its alternate proposal for a revenue sharing agreement similar to the one it had established with nbc . with the nfl also shopping a new late season package of thursday and saturday night games to potential broadcasters speculation began to surface that comcast would bid on the new nhl contract as its first step to transforming oln into a mainstream sports channel that could compete with espn . 5 comcast had already been involved in nhl broadcasting ; at the time it owned majority control of the philadelphia flyers and four comcast sportsnet regional sports networks . 6 in august 2005 espn declined to match comcast s offer and oln acquired cable television rights to the nhl beginning in the 2005 2006 season in a three year deal worth close to 200 million . the new deal would include 58 regular season games on monday and tuesday nights coverage of the nhl all star game conference finals and the first two games of the stanley cup finals . 6 with the help of its new nhl package by june 2006 oln had now reached 75 million subscribers . however due in part to oln s lesser carriage in comparison to espn the nhl s ratings that season had suffered in comparison . 7 in 2006 oln broadcast selected games in the arena football league s 2006 season . the channel televised a weekly regular season game for 11 weeks as well as a wild card playoff game . 8 however the agreement was not renewed and was later picked up by espn who also acquired a minority stake in the league s ownership . 9 as versus edit in april 2006 comcast announced that it would be renaming outdoor life network to versus in the fall of 2006 . as the network had shifted beyond simply outdoor programming the name versus was intended to represent the common element of competition within its lineup . 10 oln s re launch as versus occurred on september 25 2006 . among the new programming acquired by versus was a number of combat sports beginning with a series of boxing programs promoted by bob arum s top rank group . the channel also began televising chuck norris s world combat league a kickboxing promotion where fights are contested in a unique round ring without ropes . versus entered into a partnership with world extreme cagefighting wec to bring mixed martial arts events to the channel with the first being broadcast live on june 3 2007 . versus aired all the wec events except for wec 48 which aired on pay per view with live preliminary fights being aired on spike tv . citation needed the channel also added a variety of sports events as part of the rebranding including men s and women s college basketball high school basketball 11 12 a weekly game of the week for the national lacrosse league darts competitions the major indoor soccer league and the usa sevens one of the nine tournaments then eight that make up the irb sevens world series the top annual circuit in the sevens version of rugby union . in addition versus also added a package of college football games to its lineup with games from the mountain west conference pac 10 now pac 12 and big 12 conferences . 13 14 15 totaling 19 scheduled college football games on the channel during 2007 . versus secured coverage for the 2007 america s cup which had been a staple on espn and espn2 for years . the channel began to show qualifying regattas in late 2005 aired the louis vuitton cup for challengers in 2007 and the america s cup match between the louis vuitton winner and current champions won by alinghi of switzerland in valencia spain . in 2006 it picked up american broadcast rights in conjunction with the tennis channel of davis cup events . versus with nbc sports and the world championship sports network now universal sports broadcast coverage of the 2007 world championships in athletics from osaka japan as well as the 2009 world championships in athletics from berlin germany . on january 28 2008 versus and the nhl extended their television contract through the 2010 11 season . 16 in june 2008 operations were moved from stamford connecticut to comcast s headquarters in philadelphia pennsylvania . 17 on august 7 2008 the channel announced a 10 year deal with the indy racing league to broadcast at least 13 indycar series events a year in hd beginning in 2009 . 18 the channel would also broadcast various motorsports series on its lucas oil motorsports hour program such as usac the lucas oil late model dirt series and world series of off road racing . 19 the channel aired the 96th grey cup the championship game of the canadian football league in 2008 . 20 the channel began airing games from the united football league in 2009 . the first season championship aired on november 27 2009 . the ufl would return to the channel for a second season in 2010 . citation needed on april 5 2010 versus debuted the daily line a show consisting of a four person panel host liam mchugh handicapper rob deangelis comedian reese waters and jenn sterger who discussed often with heavy satire sports related topics that were popular that day . 21 however the show was cancelled due to low viewership on november 4 2010 . 22 the ultimate fighting championship would air two live events on the channel due to the new contract agreement with ufc sister promotion world extreme cagefighting . the first edition of ufc on versus aired on march 21 2010 headlined by brandon vera vs. jon jones in the light heavyweight division . the second event aired on august 1 with jon jones facing vladimir matyushenko . also as part of the agreement with the ufc several ufc countdown shows would air . a countdown show aired the week of a pay per view event usually lasting for one hour and covering 2 3 of the biggest fights on the card . in august 2011 the ufc announced a new broadcasting deal with the channels of rival fox sports which would begin to take effect in november 2011 . 23 versus had also struck a deal with the nba to air 10 regular season nba development league saturday night games as well as six playoff games a year . in total the channel would air 16 nba development league games 24 in addition to 25