It looks as though NBCUniversal is just about ready to announce the name for its cable sports network, currently called Versus. In April, Then-NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol announced that he expected to have a new name with “a strong utilization of NBC in the title” in around 90 days.
Ebersol may be gone, but if comments made by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts at a breakfast discussion hosted by Fortune are any indication, those plans are continuing.
During a discussion about NBCU’s Olympic rights victory, Roberts noted Versus’ new NHL deal, and hinted that a new name for the channel–likely including “NBC Sports” in some form–would be coming soon:
“We have Versus, which many have suggested will get re-named NBC Sports, or something with NBC Sports, including us allowing that we are going to start an NBC Sports channel,” Roberts said. “And take Versus which just made a 10 year deal with the NHL. We are thinking that way, and we will do something we just haven’t announced it yet.”
CBS recently rebranded its college sports network as CBS Sports Network in an effort to go more general. Both CBS and NBC have strong broadcast sports divisions, but are far behind cable leader ESPN.