The Peacock Network plans to make the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games must-see TV in 2010.
NBC Sports and the World Games 2010 Foundation announced an agreement Thursday that allows NBC to broadcast at least six hours of programming about the games on the three Sundays included in the 16 days of competition at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The broadcasts -- one hour on the first Sunday, three hours on the second and two hours on the third -- will include world championships in eight disciplines, the games' opening and closing ceremonies, and related events.
The second weekend's program will follow NBC's coverage of the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament in Wales, and that might mean a larger audience for games coverage, said Jack Kelly, chief executive officer of the World Games 2010 Foundation
A third hour of coverage on the third Sunday is a possibility, he said. The event begins Sept. 25, 2010, and ends Oct. 10.
The agreement covers North American broadcast and digital programming, including mobile and live streaming on NBC Sports.com.
The agreement does not include cable television rights, which will be negotiated separately. NBC, which is affiliated with several cable channels, is expected to be involved in those talks as well.
Kelly said the foundation has agreed not to disclose the financial details of the NBC agreement until later, because of the upcoming cable TV negotiations and some unresolved issues that could affect the bottom line.
The basic agreement calls for the foundation to share in revenue received by NBC in connection with games programming, but "we have to decide how we are going to share costs," Kelly said.
The agreement also allows for adjustments for any new ways of distributing digital programs that are not available today but might be in 2010.
The foundation, a non-profit group that is organizing the games at the Horse Park, will receive revenue from television, cable television and digital programming distributed in North America.
The games' international overseer -- FEI, or FŽdŽration Equestre Internationale -- negotiates European distribution rights with the European Broadcasting Union and receives the revenue. That agreement was signed in early 2007, Kelly said.
In a press release, NBC said its coverage of the games will be "the largest major network broadcast of equestrian sport in U.S. television history."
Kelly said he is especially pleased with the high priority NBC is giving the games. After the Vancouver Olympics, they are the No. 1 sports event of 2010 for NBC, he said.
The 2010 games will be the first held outside Europe and the first to include championships in all eight equestrian disciplines at the same site.
They should be "America's largest spectator sporting event in 2010," Kelly said.
The foundation expects to sell 600,000 spectator tickets, and to have more than 800 riders and 900 horses from 60-plus countries as competitors.
