Shaun White made some major headlines over the summer when he announced he was starting The Snow League, the world’s first professional ski and snowboard league. Details were sparse about the global halfpipe competition at the time but we just got some big news as Shaun joined The TODAY Show this morning and announced that NBC Sports has signed on as the official broadcast partner for Season One of The Snow League.
The inaugural event will go down in Aspen, Colorado on March 7-8 and will be live on Peacock followed by an encore presentation on NBC Sports. Athletes will competing for a total prize purse exceeding $1.5 million.
Time will tell if Shaun’s brainchild will be a hit but there have been a few similar athlete driven competition startups in recent history that have been quite successful including Rob Dyrdek’s Street League and Travis Rice’s Natural Selection Tour. Congratulations to Shaun!
Three-time Olympic gold medalist and global snowboarding icon Shaun White and NBC Sports announced a multi-year media rights agreement in which NBC and Peacock will showcase The Snow League, the first professional winter sports league entirely dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing, launched by White earlier this year.
The inaugural season of the league will showcase the world’s top winter sports athletes going head-to-head in multiple halfpipe events at some of the most iconic resort locations in the world. The dramatic competition, featuring the top female and male athletes in snowboarding and freeskiing, will be bolstered by the top-tier production and compelling storytelling synonymous with NBC Sports.
“I’m so excited about this partnership for The Snow League with NBC Sports,” said White. “This collaboration will showcase the incredible talent in snowboarding and freeskiing and bring the thrill of the competition to a whole new level. We hope to inspire the next generation of athletes, and there is no better platform to help showcase our athletes and their stories than NBC Sports.”
“Shaun Whiteis a true icon and his vision for The Snow League has us excited for this next evolution in our long-time partnership,” said Joe Gesue, Senior Vice President, NBC Olympics & Paralympics Programming & Executive Editor. “This innovative new venture will showcase top snowboarding and freeskiing athletes at iconic venues around the world, giving world-class competitors a much-deserved spotlight and help us all build momentum heading into what promises to be a magical 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.”
NBC and Peacock will present The Snow League’s inaugural event from Aspen, Colo., on March 7-8, 2025. Peacock will stream the four events of the league’s first season live, with encore presentations on the NBC broadcast network. Broadcast times and location will be announced closer to the start of competition.
Each event of the series will take place in a different top-tier location ranging across multiple continents, with additional venues to be announced at a later date.
Omer Atesmen, CEO of The Snow League, adds “We are thrilled to partner with NBC Sports, a network synonymous with delivering world-class sports programming to millions of viewers nationwide. This agreement marks a major milestone in our mission to establish a new platform for elite winter sports competition. NBC Sports’ unmatched expertise in sports broadcasting and storytelling is a perfect match to showcase The Snow League’s innovative format of dramatic head-to-head contests, set at iconic locations across the globe.”
David Sternberg and Dan Granik of Range Sports served as the media advisors to The Snow League for media rights negotiations.
The Snow League will feature innovative competition formats designed to build season-long storylines, including head-to-head matchups, with athletes accumulating points at each event to be tallied together at the end of the season to crown The Snow League World Champion. The total prize purse for The Snow League’s first season will exceed $1.5 million.
ABOUT THE SNOW LEAGUE
Launched in June 2024, The Snow League is the first professional winter sports league entirely dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing. Founded by three-time Olympic gold medal winning snowboarder and entrepreneur Shaun White, the league’s first season will feature a four-event global competition format, with the inaugural competition kicking off at Aspen Snowmass’ Buttermilk Mountain in March 2025, and continuing at top winter resorts worldwide. The first season will feature men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe competitions at all four events. Freeskiing will be introduced during the league’s second event in late 2025, and will be included in all future events. Athletes will compete to accumulate points based on their results from each event to be tallied together at the end of the season to crown The Snow League World Champion.
