The announcement coincides with today’s announcement that U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Universal agreed to an eight-year extension of their media rights agreement through the end of the 2025-2026 season. VWSE has been serving as the organization’s sales agency since 2008.
“Van Wagner has become an important extension of the U.S. Figure Skating family over the last 10 years,” U.S. Figure Skating Executive Director David Raith said. “They understand our sport, what we represent to our partners, and we have built a solid foundation in the market together.”
NBC will air a minimum of 33 hours of figure skating coverage, with an additional 50 or more hours airing on NBCSN. A to be determined number of original programming hours, as well as re-airs of NBC and NBCSN figure skating coverage, will also be carried on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.
“The ability to partner with Van Wagner for the duration of our new media rights deal with NBC Universal is a great benefit to U.S. Figure Skating,” U.S. Figure Skating Chief Marketing Officer Ramsey Baker said. “These two partnerships will provide important stability and allow our organization to continue sharing the value of figure skating with current and future U.S. Figure Skating partners and our passionate fans around the country.”
Under the terms of the new agreement between U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Universal, U.S. Figure Skating and VWSE will control the commercial media inventory across NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network’s 80+ hours of figure skating competition coverage each season.
“U.S. Figure Skating has been an incredible partner for Van Wagner Sports over the past 10 seasons,” Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment President of Global Sales Jeff Knapple said. “We have grown tremendously together and are excited to continue representing U.S. Figure Skating’s desirable marketing and media assets for the long term.”
In addition to the commercial inventory across NBC and NBCU, U.S. Figure Skating and VWSE will continue to offer a full suite of multiplatform sponsorship assets including event entitlements, television-visible rinkboard signage, content integrations, in-arena fan engagement opportunities, digital and social media extensions, grassroots programming and more.
“The consolidation of all commercial assets across an expanded schedule on NBCU with all of the tremendous sponsorship benefits that U.S. Figure Skating has to offer will greatly enhance our offering for both current and future partners,” Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment VP of Global Sales, Rem de Rohan, said. “We strongly believe in the future of U.S. Figure Skating and are eager to control the market for this coveted adult-female consumer base in a unique live sports environment.”
