Dick Ebersol, who has run NBC Sports since 1989 and engineered the networks bids to acquire the rights to more Olympics than any other, resigned on Thursday when he said he could not come to an agreement on a new contract. His decision comes several months after Comcasts takeover of NBC Universal and raises speculation that he clashed with his new corporate bosses, which he denied.
Dick Ebersols departure raises questions about whether Comcast will be less aggressive about acquiring the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Ebersols departure raises immediate questions about whether Comcast will be less aggressive about acquiring the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, which will be negotiated in Lausanne, Switzerland, in June. He said that he would not attend the auction, at which ESPN and Fox are expected to be bidders, and that he intended to stay at NBC until the end of June.
Eight years ago he made the winning bid of $2.2 billion for the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2012 London Games. But NBCs $223 million loss on the 2010 Olympics came at a notably bad time: less than three months after Comcast announced its deal to buy control of NBC Universal from General Electric. The Vancouver loss was by far the most for the eight Olympics on NBC in Ebersols tenure.
Earlier this year Comcast named Ebersol to run the NBC Sports Group, which consists of NBC Sports, the Golf Channel, Versus and Comcasts regional sports networks. His first major acquisition under the new regime was to retain National Hockey League rights for NBC and Versus for $1.9 billion over 10 years.
Over the past 22 years, Ebersol acquired, then dropped, N.B.A. rights; retained, did not renew, then reacquired N.F.L. contracts (NBC carries Sunday night games); ventured into a partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment to create the XFL, a bizarre, money-losing football league; brought Major League Baseball back to NBC, then got out; and became a prominent member of the Olympic movement.
An executive who was briefed on the negotiations for the new contract but was not authorized to speak publicly said that Ebersol had pushed hard for certain concessions, including salary, that Comcast executives resisted.
Even though Ebersol had been widely praised by new management at NBC, the executive said that the company did not want to set Ebersol apart from other top staff members.
Comcast executives have privately told holdover NBC staff members that no employee should be considered irreplaceable.
The discussions between Ebersol and Comcast executives apparently came to a head in a meeting Thursday morning. By 10 a.m. Mr. Ebersol had scheduled a meeting to tell his staff he was stepping down.
Mark Lazarus, president of the NBC Sports Cable Group, will replace Ebersol.
