With the sun having set on NBCSN, a 26-year run comes to an end. It began operations in 1995 as Outdoor Life Network with a crunchy granola lineup of shows no one really cared about. Seriously, it was nothing but fishing and hunting shows with some of the worst audio imaginable.
Things started to change when OLN acquired the rights to the Tour de France in 1999 with a doped-up Lance Armstrong helping the network bring in new viewers. The channel would dabble with other random quasi-sporting events over the next six years, broadcasting stuff like bull riding and bootleg X Games-style competitions.
OLN found itself at a crossroads when Armstrong decided to retire after the 2005 race. Not wanting to stay the course with Floyd Landis, the channel opted to purchase the NHL rights ahead of the 2005–2006 season as well as scooping up the Arena Football League and some other random sporting events.
This path led them to rebrand as Versus in 2006 and saw them gobble up an eclectic mix of sporting events, including Pac 12 football, NBA D League games, MMA fights and seemingly a never-ending supply of rugby sevens tournaments.
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Anyway, Comcast would purchase a majority stake in NBC Universal and Versus would be relaunched as NBCSN on the first day of 2012. The network was unoffensive but never really captured the imagination of sports fans. It was always just sort of there.
Until 2022 that is. With NBC losing out on the NHL rights to ESPN and Turner, in addition to moving sporting content to Peacock and USA, there was no longer a need for NBCSN. After a solid run, the plug was pulled on January 1, 2021.
What if OLN has stuck to its original plan?
OLN had a much different plan before the NHL broadcast rights fell into its lap at a bargain price. It had acquired syndicated reruns of Survivor in addition to launching programs like All-Star Barbecue Showdown. The channel’s new theme was essentially going to be stuff people do outside with reality TV likely being a tentpole.
This concept never got fleshed out since the network pivoted hard to sports a few months later. OLN would have presumably become a more hillbilly version of the Discovery Channel that might not have made it to the 2010s.
Let’s not underestimate the impact OLN’s decision had on the sports broadcasting landscape. The NHL had no other options at the time and probably ends up as an afterthought on the soon to be launched ESPN360.com. Hockey would have been screwed for lack of a better term.
It’s also hard to know if NBC and Comcast make a push to obtain the EPL rights or reacquire NASCAR during the 2010s. Maybe they create a new channel after the merger to compete with the worldwide leader. Or they could have just tried to pigeonhole the sports properties onto other networks like USA.
One thing is for certain, had OLN stuck to its original plan, there would be no NBCSN. And while there still may not be an NBCSN today, the network gave us a solid 10 years of sports television.
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