NBCUniversal has promoted veteran executive Rick Cordella to president of NBC Sports, reporting into Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group.Cordella, who has served in a number of leadership roles at NBCU, now will lead all aspects of NBC Sports’ brands and platforms including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Digital and transactional businesses GolfNow and SportsEngine. He’ll work with NBC Local on regional sports network strategy and continue to oversee sports on streamer Peacock.“Rick has been at the epicenter of NBC Sports for years with a proven track record of growth and innovation across platforms, particularly our flagship NBC network as well as Peacock, where he helped architect our leadership role in sports and streaming,” said Lazarus. Cordella, he added, “will oversee the evolution of our business as we continue to offer the best experiences and content to our viewers, as well as be the best partner to leagues and rights holders.”Cordella most recently was president of programming at NBC Sports and Peacock Sports, where he led NBCU strategy across broadcast, cable and streaming and oversaw sports betting, sports fantasy and related efforts.A member of the Peacock founding team, he previously served as the streaming platform’s chief commercial officer following a stint as chief revenue officer, overseeing entertainment, news, film and sports programming, channels and live events including the most-streamed Olympics and Super Bowl.Cordella’s responsibilities have spanned platform launch, content strategy, product, monetization efforts, editorial, standards and practices and sports rights acquisition.Prior to Peacock, he served as EVP and GM, Digital Media at NBC Sports. He was on the board of FanDuel, representing NBC Sports’ investment in the sports-betting company. 8-The multiple Sports Emmy winner, Cordella previously served as GM of Fantasy Sports, where he managed NBC Sports’ fantasy sports properties, including Rotoworld.com, Allstarstats.com and Sandbox.com. He joined NBC Sports in 2006 with NBCUniversal’s acquisition of AllStar Stats, the parent company of Rotoworld.com.NBC Sports Group Chairman Pete Bevacqua departed the company in June after a five-year run to become athletic director at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.
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