NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua has announced that Rick Cordella will be the new president of programming for NBC Sports and Peacock Sports.
Cordella will be responsible for NBC Sports’ programming strategy, overseeing a team working across all properties to maximize distribution and efficiencies on broadcast, cable, and Peacock. He will also oversee sports betting, sports fantasy, and related efforts.
This is a homecoming for Cordella, who served as evp and general manager of Digital Media at NBC Sports from 2010 to 2019. During that time he oversaw all aspects of NBC Sports Digital, which included NBC Olympics, NBC Sports, Golf Channel, ProFootballTalk, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Rotoworld.com, PlayMaker Media, and NBC Sports Gold (OTT).
Prior to this appointment, Cordella was the chief commercial officer of Peacock, where he led business efforts across several content pillars, including sports, streaming channels, and live events.
“Rick had a tremendous track record in 13+ years with NBC Sports and was the architect of multiple NBC Sports Digital platforms before undertaking a central role in the development and launch of Peacock,” Bevacqua said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome him home to NBC Sports, where he will continue to work closely with the executive team at Peacock, which is integral to the growth of NBC Sports. In addition, this move will allow Tom to maintain a singular focus on golf – his area of expertise and deep relationships with the Tours, organizations, and properties – which will greatly benefit our businesses across the industry.”
Tom Knapp is being promoted to executive vice president, Golf, where, as Bevacqua said in his statement, he will focus on the overall golf business and portfolio, overseeing NBC Sports’ relationships with all stakeholders in the golf industry.
“We are thrilled to strengthen our leadership team on multiple fronts,” added Bevacqua.