Actually, this has been a long time coming
Back in November, I began hearing of a stunning development in the 24-year-history of NBC’s relationship with American curling.
The network was running commercial adverts within game coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials. As in, NBC was breaking away from coverage—mid-end—to air a spot, and then returning to the action, having missed one or more shots in the end.
This could not be.
But it was true.
Social media reaction from the U.S. “Twitterspiel”—as it’s called—seemed to be more shocked than angry.
I reached out to a few fans, and a former contributor, but didn’t hear much in return.
One fellow gave me a quote. Brian Champion-Wescott runs the Palmetto Curling Club’s social media accounts in South Carolina. His thoughts are a personal reflection, and do not represent his facility.
“I don't like them,” Champion-Wescott said. “I understand commercial and advertising dollars are needed to grow and fund the sport, but there must be a better way than missing key shots in the middle of the end.
“Advertisers and networks had to figure this out with World Cup soccer games in the ’90s. They can do it for curling, too.”
Less than three months later, NBC is at it again, this time during curling’s quadrennial Holy Grail, the Olympic Winter Games. And this time, U.S. curling fans are angry.
Champion-Wescott points out this affects NBC’s primetime broadcasts, which are often tape-delayed—something NBC has controversially favored at both winter and summer Olympic Games since 1998.
“Primetime games in the U.S., specifically games featured on the NBC network, are unwatchable. Really hurts our efforts to grow,” he said.
The affair has also affected some matches on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock TV. All Olympic content is available at the paid service (US $5.00 /month)—every curling game, for example, is available live and on replay.
John Benton curled for Team USA at Vancouver 2010, writes occasionally for The Curling News and also consulted for NBC at Sochi 2014.
“As a curler, athlete, announcer and now producer, I never want to be overly critical of broadcasts and the choices that are made regarding advertising and sponsorship,” he says. “However, cutting away to commercial at any point in the middle of actual play in a curling match is just lazy, in my opinion.
“There are many other ways to fit these breaks in. Extend time between ends or run picture-in-picture or split screen, at the very least. I just think it’s a huge disservice to the athletes, teams, and the game itself. Especially when decision makers at the highest levels of our sport keep bending over backwards to change the rules of the game to fit what television wants.
“If we’re going to make actual changes to the rules of the game for that purpose, perhaps we can stipulate that they show all of the shots?”
This isn’t the first time this publication has called out NBC for their treatment of the Roaring Game. In October 2021, columnist Matt Sussman revisited a piece he first wrote in 2016 concerning the new packaged show, Curling Night in America. Sussman’s recent effort suggested that after six years, it’s time for a new formula—live games, please.
We also illuminated the conundrum of NBC curling coverage in 2018.
Just weeks after we put John Shuster’s Miracurl on Ice on the front cover of our March issue, we followed up with an April cover story on how we felt NBC handled the Shuster storytelling.
The answer? Not well.
Contributor Myles McNutt had first criticized the network in a blogpost following Sochi 2014.
“When you’ve spent years following World Cup results in bobsleigh, or learning the stories of more than just the Americans competing in the biathlon, it is inevitable that you will see a version of your sport that reduces, obscures, and at times misrepresents what you love about it in the interest of commercial broadcasting,” wrote McNutt.
“Curling deserves better, but so do most sports. All we can do is make our case, and hope those who are curious will dig deeper and discover the sport and not NBC’s version of it.”
McNutt went on to tell readers of The Curling News that not much had changed at PyeongChang 2018. Yes, Shuster’s run to the gold medal game (finally) brought live coverage, and even a “side-sheet” reporter relaying thoughts from the coach’s bench. But the overall storytelling was still sorely lacking, due to NBC’s quadrennial “reset” strategy.
What I didn’t account for was the fact that I would tune in four years later and discover that NBC’s presumption that viewers know nothing about curling would repeat itself—as though the Sochi Games never happened.
It’s one thing for NBC not to offer the kind of in-depth coverage found in Canada, but it’s another for them to deny those Americans who are knowledgeable about curling the kind of coverage that could get them further invested in the game on a regular basis.
By resetting their coverage approach every four years, and sometimes for every match, NBC is destroying a perfect opportunity to help grow the game in America.
Four years later, the placement of commercials finally has U.S. curling fans angry. Twenty-four years of NBC curling history made polite fans reluctant to rock the boat, but those fans might be nearing the end of their patience. Things seem to be regressing, after all, not improving.
McNutt enjoyed the live broadcast of Shuster’s golden win in Korea. The question is—as he posited after PyeongChang—how can U.S. curling fans convince NBC of the value in making that kind of commitment to curling more often, whether U.S. teams are winning or not?
They could start by dumping the awful in-end commercial campaign.