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74-726: In 2006, Colorado businessmen Tim Wiens and John Frew, who were building the Broomfield Event Center at the Arista development in Broomfield, Colorado , acquired a new minor league basketball team to attract fans in the northwest Denver-Boulder region. In February, they formed two teams, the minor league hockey team Rocky Mountain Rage , and the Colorado 14ers, originally a Continental Basketball Association club. In April,

148-649: A 155–127 win over the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on April 8. Finishing with a record of 34 wins, the 14ers played at home for the playoffs, and defeated the Erie BayHawks , Austin Toros , and Utah Flash to become the D-League champions. On June 18, 2009, a Dallas Mavericks executive, Donnie Nelson , purchased the 14ers, and moved the team to Frisco, Texas . They played in 2010–11 with

222-406: A concert by Bonnie Raitt . However, the facility proved it couldn't stand against its competitors. Many patrons complained of a lack of parking and street signs leading to the venue. Others complained about the acoustics, describing the arena as a concrete barn. For its first two years of operation, the venue did not see a profit. It was unable to pay bills and staff salaries. Until 2009, the arena

296-470: A considerable coup for a debuting promotion, considering NBC Sports' past interest in the UFC. Upon the announcement of the broadcast deal, WSOF President Ray Sefo stated that the promotion wanted to host 8–10 events per year, whilst holding a one-year deal with NBC Sports. However, the next day, an NBC spokesman revealed that the deal only covered WSOF's inaugural event, with the option for more, should NBC hold

370-566: A new nickname, color, and logo. On November 5, 2009, women's basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman became the Legends' head coach, the first woman to lead a men's professional basketball team. The team played in the 2010–11 season out of the Comerica Center . The Legends hired other notable basketball professionals for their front office, including 1986 Slam Dunk Champion Spud Webb as president of basketball operations and 1995 NBA Coach of

444-640: A positive evaluation. On February 4, 2013, it was reported by several news outlets that NBC Sports signed a 3-year deal with WSOF. On December 16, 2012, NBC Sports Network, along with CNBC , aired a portion of the Sunday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots . This was because the game's coverage on NBC was interrupted by President Barack Obama 's press conference following

518-542: A similar style to how it covered the Tour , hoping that its coverage might bring "surprise" results for the channel. Due in part to Armstrong's absence from the Tour in 2006, its ratings for live coverage of the first four stages of the race drew 49% fewer viewers than previous years. In May 2005, ESPN rejected a $ 60 million offer to renew its broadcasting contract with the National Hockey League into

592-399: 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. 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, a weekly "game of the week" for

666-413: A weekly regular-season game for 11 weeks as well as a wild card playoff game. However, the agreement was not renewed and was later picked up by ESPN , who also acquired a minority stake in the league's ownership. 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"

740-405: Is unknown. The final live sports broadcast aired on NBCSN was an exhibition cornhole "Team USA vs. The World" event (both men's and women's) from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (during the 2021 US Open Cornhole Championships) on December 31. It led into the final program, a replay of the second day of Mecum's Kansas City auction event from December 3, and following the program the transition to

814-603: The 2005–06 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 emerge 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. Comcast had already been involved in NHL broadcasting; at

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888-473: The 2012 Summer Olympics . Its coverage of the women's soccer gold medal match between the United States and Japan set a new viewership record for the network, with 4.35 million viewers. In August 2013, after having largely been used as an initialism in unofficial capacities, the channel officially shortened its name to NBCSN. The change was made to help streamline its branding in preparation for

962-461: The 2014 Winter Olympics , by which time the name change was mostly complete. On September 22, 2013, NBCSN broadcast an episode of Under Wild Skies —a hunting program aired as a time-buy by the NRA —in which host and NRA lobbyist Tony Makris was shown killing an African elephant on a trip to Botswana . The network was criticized by the media for airing such material; while NBC responded by pulling

1036-655: The Broomfield Event Center and formerly the Odeum Colorado ) was a multi-purpose arena located 15 miles northwest of Downtown Denver , in the city of Broomfield . It was located near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and the Flatiron Crossing Mall . Opening in 2006, the arena naming rights belonged to 1stBank , a local financial institution since 2010. The venue was typically used for mid-sized concerts in

1110-518: The Canadian Football League in 2008. On April 5, 2010, Versus debuted The Daily Line , a sports betting show consisting of a four-person panel (host Liam McHugh before moving to NBC Sports, handicapper Rob DeAngelis, comedian Reese Waters , and Jenn Sterger ) who discussed, often with heavy satire, sports-related topics that were popular that day. However, the show was cancelled due to low viewership on November 4, 2010. It

1184-584: The Champion's Cup final. Versus would drop the NLL for the league's 2012 season ; U.S. broadcast rights were instead picked up by CBS Sports Network . In April 2011, NBC Sports and Versus announced they had reached a ten-year extension to their television contract with the National Hockey League worth nearly $ 2 billion over the life of the contract. As part of the announcement, Dick Ebersol ,

1258-635: The Colorado Crossover . New players, Dominique Coleman and Josh Davis , played well, as did Sonny Weems , assigned from the Denver Nuggets three times to play during the regular season and playoffs. Early in the season, the 14ers led the D-League in wins and set the D-League record for points in a single game with a 147–119 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on March 10. The 14ers later broke that record with

1332-783: The Dallas Mavericks and son of former NBA head coach Don Nelson . The ownership group also includes Evan Wyly, Barry Aycock and Eduardo Nájera . Roster Last transaction: November 25, 2024 Impact Player of the Year Rookie of the Year Sportsmanship Award All-D-League First Team All-D-League Second Team All-D-League Third Team Broomfield Event Center The 1stBank Center (originally

1406-756: The Denver Metro area, seating up to 6,500 patrons. From June 2010 until May 2014, the arena housed the Colorado Music Hall of Fame before it moved to its permanent home at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre . For sports, it was the home of the Denver Roller Dolls and former home of the Rocky Mountain Rage and Colorado 14ers . The City and County of Broomfield unveiled plans for a new sports facility in

1480-608: The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour each Wednesday at 7 p.m. The races originated from a variety of locations, including Stafford Motor Speedway , Tri-County Speedway, and Thompson Motor Speedway. In February 2011, Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal , and merged its content operations into the company. As part of the acquisition, Versus and Comcast's other sports channels began to be integrated into

1554-531: The NBC Sports division. Coinciding with the merger, President Jamie Davis was replaced by Comcast Sports Group president Jon Litner. Litner began to oversee the channel, in addition to his other duties following the Comcast takeover. In March 2011, Versus expanded its college football coverage by becoming the pay-TV partner for NBC's coverage of Notre Dame football , airing replays of Notre Dame games, and

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1628-638: The NHL All-Star Game , conference finals, and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals . 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. In 2006, OLN broadcast selected games in the Arena Football League 's 2006 season . The channel televised

1702-770: 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 2007, Versus expanded its college football coverage; the network acquired a portion of the rights to the Mountain West Conference (as part of

1776-607: The Olympic Channel (which itself shut down nine months after NBCSN did) and Peacock , beginning at 12:00:01 a.m. on January 1, 2022; at that time, the network, after signing off , would then carry a looping advisory video advising viewers where their programs could be found until January 10, though the provider could simply take the channel dark immediately after sign-off. NBC also advised viewers during broadcasts of affected games as to their new location, along with making sure electronic program guide listings reflected

1850-519: The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting . NBCSN will continue to serve as overflow coverage for Sunday Night Football and other NFL games covered by NBC in the event the ongoing game is interrupted by an NBC News special coverage. On July 23, 2013, NBC announced that coverage of NASCAR racing would return to NBC beginning in the 2015 season under a new contract lasting through 2024. The deal includes broadcast rights to

1924-699: The Sky Sports News channel to its weekday morning lineup, returning that program to the American airwaves for the first time since the discontinuation of Fox Soccer in September 2013. On January 22, 2021, an internal memo sent by NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua announced that the network would cease operations by the end of the year, and that USA Network and NBC would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including

1998-604: The Stanley Cup Playoffs , IndyCar Series , and NASCAR Cup Series , before NBCSN's shutdown (NBC lost the rights to the NHL to an ESPN / Turner Sports consortium after the 2020–2021 season). When NBCSN was shuttered, its programming was effectively merged into USA Network's schedule, with some events also moving to CNBC on weekends, freeing NBC Sports from the burden of having secondary programming to fill time without any live sporting events. Peacock , NBCUniversal's new streaming service, began to broadcast some of

2072-522: The Tour de France but eventually began covering more "mainstream" sporting events, resulting in its relaunch as Versus in September 2006. In 2011, Comcast , the original owner of the network, acquired a majority stake in NBCUniversal . As a result, Comcast merged the operations of its pay channels with those of NBC. In particular, it aligned the operation of its sports channels with NBC 's sports division, NBC Sports . On January 1, 2012, Versus

2146-502: 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

2220-491: The (now defunct) City Lights Pavilion. To set it apart from its competition, the arena was designed to give an arena-sized show a theater (intimate) feeling. Construction began in October 2005 to a rocky start. Six months after construction began, the venue's owners faced a lawsuit regarding noise control. Before opening, the facility saw staff and management changes. Despite pushbacks, the venue opened on November 9, 2006, with

2294-543: The 14ers entered the NBA Development League and began their first season. The team was named after Colorado's 14,000-foot mountain peaks . Joe Wolf , who played with the Denver Nuggets in the 1990s, was the 14ers' first coach, and put together the roster. The team won 28–22 in its first season, and broke various records for Colorado minor league basketball, from scoring to attendance. The team's leaders included Von Wafer and Louis Amundson , who joined

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2368-706: The Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority's Board of Directors announced that the arena would permanently close on November 30 and then be torn down in early to mid 2024. The board cited that the arena never made a profit as the reason for its closing. The large property is expected to be redeveloped soon after demolition of the 1st Bank Center. The 1st Bank Center held its final event on September 27, 2023, with AEW Dynamite. 39°54′16″N 105°05′07″W  /  39.904527°N 105.085334°W  / 39.904527; -105.085334 NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network)

2442-519: The Denver Metro area, in May 2005. Led by Tim Wiens and John Frew, the venue is an anchor for the 215-acre commercial and residential development, Arista Metropolitan District (also called Arista Broomfield). The facility would serve as competition for several mid-sized venues in Colorado, including the: Magness Arena , Bellco Theatre , Fillmore Auditorium , Budweiser Events Center , World Arena and

2516-569: The Legends hired Nick Van Exel as the head coach. After one season, in June 2016, Exel left to be an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies . He was replaced by Bob MacKinnon Jr. , who had previously been the head coach when the 14ers won a D-League championship in Colorado. The team is owned by Texas D-League Management, LLC, which is principally owned by Donnie Nelson , former general manager and President of Basketball Operations for

2590-469: 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

2664-592: The NBA by the end of the season. Despite losing streaks and roster reorganizations, the team qualified for the playoffs. The 14ers won the Western Division before losing the championship in overtime to the Dakota Wizards . The 14ers' second season began with an almost new roster, with only Elton Brown and Eric Osmundson staying. New players included Kaniel Dickens , a top player on the team. Eddie Gill

2738-685: The World Championship Sports Network (later 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. In June 2008, operations were moved from Stamford, Connecticut , to Comcast's headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . On August 7, 2008,

2812-636: The Year Del Harris as general manager. Televised games introduced the Legends to fans of the 16-team league. They were on national TV during Versus three times, and appeared twice on Fox Sports Southwest. The game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Versus was their first TV appearance. After dropping the opener, the Legends had their first win on November 26 against the Idaho Stampede , scoring 108–100. The Legends' first game in Frisco

2886-730: The advisory loop was done without ceremony. Said loop continued until 2:34 p.m. ET on January 10, when it went dark. The Canadian iteration of the former OLN was relaunched as Bravo in 2024 licensing the name to Toronto-based Rogers Sports and Media . As of September 15, 2014, the entirety of NBC Sports' operations, including NBCSN, moved to a new campus in Stamford, Connecticut . Football Night in America remained at NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center until September 7, 2014, when that program also moved to Stamford. WSOF

2960-792: The annual Harvard–Yale rivalry game . The initial two-year contract was later renewed in 2010. 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

3034-417: The beginning of July 1995. However, it was delayed when Times Mirror decided to reassess its media holdings. Times Mirror decided to reduce its stake in the two new networks to 10%; bringing Comcast and Continental Cablevision on as partners. The network initially had trouble gaining carriage and was also broadcast on several low power television stations. In 1999, OLN acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to

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3108-618: 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. 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 . The channel aired the 96th Grey Cup , the championship game of

3182-411: 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 . The network was one of two (the other being Speedvision ) formed out of a partnership of Cox Cable and Times Mirror which had combined their cable systems operations a year earlier. Outdoor Life was originally planned to have launched at

3256-430: The channel's closure, and the company's social media was used to advise viewers as well. Mecum Auctions already had a secondary content deal with Motor Trend and a tertiary deal with RFD TV ; Motor Trend became its primary television partner at the start of 2022, though the fate of other surrounding non-NBC programming such as PowerNation programming (which is offered through its owner's own streaming service, Vuit),

3330-590: The channel. In the months leading up to the relaunch, NBC struck deals with Major League Soccer , dropped the UFL , and added coverage of college hockey games. On June 6, 2011, it was revealed that NBC Sports would extend its rights to the Olympic Games through 2020, outbidding competing bids by Fox Sports and ESPN in a $ 4.38 billion contract. The network began to participate in NBC's overall coverage beginning at

3404-511: The channels of rival Fox Sports , which would begin to take effect in November 2011. 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, in addition to 25 hours of NBA specials. Starting in August 2010, Versus aired nine races of

3478-442: The company saw an overall revenue drop by 19% to $ 6.72 billion. Following a gradual "wind-down" of operations (even further aggravated by NBC's loss of NHL rights), it was further disclosed as to the process of how NBCSN would cease operations on November 2, 2021; specifically, it was revealed on that date that a majority of NBCSN's sports rights, beginning with rights to Premier League soccer, would transfer over to USA Network ,

3552-480: The deal, Comcast also took a stake in the conference's new cable network MountainWest Sports Network ), and acquired a package of 10 Big 12 and Pac-10 football games sublicensed from Fox Sports Net (replacing a package it had previously sub-licensed to TBS ). In 2008, Versus announced a contract with the Ivy League to broadcast at least three games each year beginning in the 2008 season, culminating with

3626-533: The end of the season put them in the playoffs as a wild card , but they lost in the first round to the Los Angeles D-Fenders . The 14ers' third season had the most consecutive seasons played by any minor league basketball franchise in Colorado. The season began with financial issues for the owners and a new coach, Robert MacKinnon. Joe Wolf had moved to the NBA. The new roster included Eddie Gill , Billy Thomas , and Jamar Brown, who had played for

3700-439: The episode due to its "objectionable" content and stating that it would be more "aggressive" towards the content of future episodes of the program. Under Wild Skies was pulled from the network entirely after Makris made remarks on an NRA-produced webcast comparing critics of the show to Hitler . The network's outdoors block, its final connection with its OLN era, was slowly wound down by 2016 with natural contract expirations, as

3774-504: The event, all of which promoted through a $ 20 million advertising campaign. Overall, while its coverage of the Tour de France helped OLN expand its carriage to over 60 million homes, rumors surrounding Armstrong's possible retirement from cycling led to concerns over the channel's overemphasis on him in its coverage (to the point that some critics sarcastically stated that OLN actually stood for "Only Lance Network"). Critics questioned whether

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3848-516: The facility was given a temporary name change of Odeum Colorado. In February 2010, it was announced local financial institution, FirstBank Holding Company of Colorado, Inc. (known simply as 1stBank) purchased naming rights for five years, at an undisclosed amount. The agreement began on March 1, 2010. The arena reopened on March 5, 2010, with a concert by Furthur . Since its reopening, the arena has hosted numerous concerts by popular artists, alongside family shows and sporting events. On May 23, 2023,

3922-535: The fall of 2011 (the latter ending when Darren Rovell moved to ESPN as their sports business correspondent). Bob Costas hosts Costas Tonight , which consists of monthly interview episodes, and quarterly town hall specials – the first of which aired from Indianapolis on February 2, 2012, as part of NBC's overall coverage of Super Bowl XLVI . The network also added more documentary-style series, including 36 , Caught Looking (a weekly series co-produced with Major League Baseball ), and Sports Illustrated ,

3996-406: The first ever live broadcast of the team's annual spring game. Its coverage began with a marathon of three classic Fighting Irish games on March 17, St. Patrick's Day , to serve as a prelude to its coverage of the spring game. For the 2011 season, Versus also returned to airing National Lacrosse League telecasts with a nine-game package, starting with the 2011 All-Star Game and culminating with

4070-458: The first round by the Tulsa 66ers . After Nancy Lieberman, Del Harris was the head coach, starting October 4, 2011. He coached the Legends for one season, had a 24–26 record for the second consecutive year, but did not make the playoffs. Between 2012 and 2015, the Legends' head coach was former NBA player Eduardo Nájera . The team did not make the playoffs while he was head coach. On July 8, 2015,

4144-559: The former chairman of NBC Sports, said that Versus would be renamed "within 90 days" in order to reflect the synergy resulting from the merger. However, the announcement of a new name did not come until August 1, 2011, when Comcast announced that Versus would be relaunched as the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on January 1, 2012. The relaunch coincided with NBC's coverage of the NHL Winter Classic , which took place on

4218-484: The network could sustain itself without the viewership that Lance Armstrong's presence had brought to its coverage. 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–led by the acquisition of off-network reruns of the reality competition series Survivor . OLN's executives believed that bringing Survivor into its lineup would fit well with

4292-514: The network would cease operations by the end of the year. NBCSN ceased operations on December 31, 2021, with its sports properties moved to USA Network , Peacock , and other NBCUniversal networks. The channel originally launched as the Outdoor Life Network (or OLN ) on July 31, 1995; the name was licensed from Outdoor Life magazine. Its programming consisted of hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure shows. In its early days,

4366-555: The network's former programming such as Notre Dame hockey , and would also simulcast several major sports events held by NBCSN as a transitional move, most notably the opening games of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals . The move was cited by industry analysts as a response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sports and television industries, the acceleration of cord-cutting , as well as formidable competition from rival sports networks such as ESPN and Fox Sports 1 , noting

4440-626: The new direction it had planned for OLN, and could attract viewership from fans of the show who had watched it on CBS , though it was also the first example to prove that traditional repeats of reality competitions with the results already known was an unviable strategy. 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 events in

4514-530: The outdoor networks of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment effectively monopolized the market through their own three networks, along with streaming providers. The editorial standards for those venues also had more tolerance to the firearms-centric genre (and advertiser base) of outdoors programming. NBCSN simulcast Spanish-language coverage of two matches from the 2018 FIFA World Cup from corporate sibling Telemundo : Brazil vs. Switzerland on June 17, and England vs. Belgium on June 28. In December 2018,

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4588-515: The same day. In an interview with TV Guide , president of programming Jon Miller stated that NBCSN was to be positioned as a credible "full-service sports network", dropping low-brow programming (such as Whacked Out Sports and The T.Ocho Show ) in favor of focusing on event coverage, and sports news and talk programs, including new original programming. NBC also made efforts to expand its current broadcasting relationships and acquire new rights for additional sports events to be broadcast on

4662-415: The second half of the NASCAR Playoffs and Xfinity Series seasons; the majority of which will air on NBCSN. On August 17, 2014, NBCSN aired rain-delayed coverage of the USGA 's 2014 United States Amateur Challenge , making it the first golf event to be televised on the network. Original programs aired by the network include NBC SportsTalk , and the weekly CNBC Sports Biz , which both debuted in

4736-408: The time, it owned majority control of the Philadelphia Flyers , and four Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks . In August 2005, ESPN declined to match Comcast's offer, and OLN acquired pay 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

4810-483: The yearly ratings rankings for American sports networks saw NBCSN rank second for the first time, ahead of ESPN2 , which fell below the second spot for the first time in its history. Because of Comcast's acquisition of Sky plc , NBCSN partnered with the British media firm's Sky Sports division on coverage of international events. The first collaboration came at the Premier League transfer deadline in January 2019. Two months later, NBCSN added an hour-long simulcast of

4884-419: Was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal , a subsidiary of Comcast . 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

4958-459: Was formed in 2012, having signed a broadcast deal with the NBC Sports Network. This was the third MMA promotion that NBC Sports has hosted, having broadcast World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship events when the channel was formerly known as Versus . NBC Sports had been one of the bidders for the rights to broadcast future UFC events, but lost out to Fox . However, some journalists regarded WSOF's deal with NBC Sports to be

5032-418: Was intended to represent the common element of competition within its lineup. 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 promotion. The channel also began televising Chuck Norris 's World Combat League , a kickboxing promotion featuring

5106-406: Was on November 30. The Legends scored a league record of 84 points in the first half, and a 135–112 win over the Austin Toros . They began the season with a 5–1 record, the best six-game start for an expansion team in the league's history. They finished the regular season with a 24–26 record, and went to the playoffs. They were the third expansion team to play in the postseason, but were eliminated in

5180-563: Was operated by Broomfield Sports and Entertainment (created by Wiens and Frew). Management ceased when the company could no longer financially afford to maintain the failing venue. The Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority (BURA) began seeking a new management company in January 2009. AEG Live , VenuWorks and SMG all placed bids. Operations were passed off to Peak Entertainment—a joint venture between Kroenke Sports Enterprises and AEG Live Rocky Mountains, in June 2009, for 28 years. Chuck Morris, President and CEO of AEG Live Rocky Mountains,

5254-482: Was rebranded as the NBC Sports Network . The branding was later shortened to NBCSN . By September 15, 2014, most of NBC Sports' operations, including NBCSN, had been moved to facilities in Stamford, Connecticut . As of February 2020, NBCSN was distributed to 79.879 million homes and was the second most watched cable sports network besides ESPN (though some sources included ESPN2 as a separate network in those figures). On January 22, 2021, NBCUniversal announced that

5328-495: Was responsible to the revitalization of the Fillmore Auditorium. Under the new management, the venue saw over one million dollars in renovations. This included a new paint job, window treatments, terrace balconies, improvements to lighting and acoustics. Over 2,000 parking spaces were added, along with a pedestrian bridge connecting patrons to RTD's US 36 and Broomfield Park-n-Ride. During this construction period,

5402-499: Was revived by NBC Sports Radio in 2019 after the PASPA Act was declared unconstitutional , though NBCSN instead blended betting content into regular programming. 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

5476-534: Was selected in the draft, joined the NBA before the first game, and returned to the team later. Kevin Hill, the only Canadian, was drafted. Five others joined the NBA, including the simultaneous call-ups of Dickens and Billy Thomas on February 22, 2008, by the Cleveland Cavaliers . Despite turnover, the 14ers played well, finishing with one more win than the prior season. The 14ers' six consecutive wins at

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