Mark Lazarus is the new boss for NBC Sports. His duties have expanded following some key departures at NBCUniversal. Comcast made those duties official yesterday, naming him the new Chairman of NBC Universal Media Group.
The new role will put Lazarus over NBC Sports at a pivotal time. The network is preparing to launch its primetime Big Ten football package this fall and the Paris Olympics are just over a year away.
A bigger responsibility might be the NBA. NBC does not have any broadcast rights for the league yet, but with negotiations starting soon, the network is expected to make a serious bid to get back into the basketball business.
Lazarus has been leading the division on an interim basis since Pete Bevacqua left the network last month to take a role at the University of Notre Dame. He had also been overseeing ad sales following Linda Yaccarino’s exit to run Twitter.
Prior to the announcement, Lazarus was the Chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. He held the position since May of 2020.
