NBC Sports “is moving action sports programming from Fox’s Speed and Fuel TV channels to Versus” four months after reclaiming complete ownership of the Dew Tour, according to Tripp Mickle of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The first programming “making that move comes from the AMA Pro Motocross Series,” which aired 24 hours of content on Fuel TV and 21 hours of "race coverage on Speed this year.” The 21 hours on Speed “will move next year to Versus ... and the 24 hours of programming on Fuel TV will air on allisports.com.” Versus will “air 11 hours of motocross programming live, and NBC will continue to air three hours of live motocross as it has the past three years” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/14 issue). ESPN.com’s B.J. Smith wrote this deal “is the biggest television package ever for the series, which, as recently as 2008, featured most of its coverage in a one-week tape delay.” The series coverage was split between Speed and NBC this year. Although the promoters and NBC “are guaranteeing 14 hours of live coverage, no announcement has been made about how many hours of live coverage will be devoted to the premier 450 class where defending champion Ryan Villopoto and former champions, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey and James Stewart will compete.” MX Sports Pro Racing President Davey Coombs said that those details “are still coming together.” He added, “NBC is the home of the Olympics next summer, so we are working everything out” (ESPN.com, 11/14).
