Comcast Shoots for Sports Deals. Will It Score?

My Foolish colleague Tim Beyers and I represent two of the ways investors can analyze the expanding world of Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA).

In Tim's case, he's looking at the company's ability to service his leading-edge technical needs with, for instance, its "Extreme 105" Internet service. While technical capabilities aren't insignificant to me, I've long kept at least one eye on the leanings of CEO Brian Roberts and COO Steve Burke regarding content additions at the company. Indeed, I'm not pulling your leg when I say that, while still a media analyst, I commented months in advance that the (ultimately unsuccessful) early 2004 offer by the company to buy Disney (NYSE: DIS) appeared logical.

With my interest in the matchup of the company's distribution and content capabilities, I was intrigued by last week's activity in the world of sports programming, including Friday's Wall Street Journal article on Burke's efforts to boost the sports offerings from the NBCU unit, in which Comcast recently bought controlling interest from GE (NYSE: GE). For an indication of the importance of sports to today's media world, take a gander at how satellite provider DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) has benefited from a focus on the area.

Burke, now CEO of NBCU, obviously is focusing on competing with Disney's ESPN sports stable, while also circling the rights to both Pac-12 conference athletic events and increased Olympic coverage. The Journal was mum on the news that, earlier in the week, Fox Sports -- its sibling at News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS) -- had nailed down a 13-year, $90 million-a-year deal for rights to Big 12 conference athletics. That pact can only render the still-standing Pac-12's right more alluring.

Nor did the article mention that, while he's been at Comcast for a while now, Burke cut his corporate teeth at Disney following graduate school. That history likely has added to his desire to compete with ESPN.

As to the Olympics, NBCU has a solid history of broadcasting the past several games. But with rights now running in the billions of dollars per game -- and profits not at all a sure thing -- Burke and his minions have sharpened their pencils as they determine their willingness to pay up for future opportunities.

At the same time, analysts are keeping their pencils sharp as we head for the first week in May, when Comcast will follow Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) in the reporting lineup. As has been the case for a while now, numerous opinions on the quality of its earnings will focus on the company's changing video subscriber numbers.

I, for one, have long been high on Comcast's ultimate growth prospects. But no matter how you look at the company, The Motley Fool's My Watchlist will add meaningfully to your information flow. Join me in adding Comcast to My Watchlist.