January 21, 2014

Beadle: Final Piece Of NBC-Ryder Cup Trade

January 21, 2014/ Geoff Shackelford

As reported here last month, NBC/Golf Channel is acquiring Friday Ryder Cup coverage in return for improved Premier League highlight rights for ESPN’s various highlight show. Also part of the trade was a talent component, and as Richard Deitsch reports today, Michelle Beadle is returning to ESPN after a short and unsuccessful stint at NBC Sports Network.

I can report from multiple sources that Beadle was the final piece of the second trade between the networks, the last involving Al Michaels, Friday Ryder Cup coverage and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The complicated nature of the talent and rights swap is the reason this October's change in Friday Ryder Cup networks has not yet been announced.

Still up in the air is the precise location of the Friday Ryder Cup broadcast from Gleneagles. Will it be all Golf Channel or some NBC and how much will be live versus tape-delayed?

Geoff Shackelford

Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.