We now have NBCUniversal’s official statement on the resignation of NBC Sports Group Chairman Dick Ebersol.

DICK EBERSOL, CHAIRMAN, NBC SPORTS GROUP RESIGNS AFTER A LEGENDARY CAREER AT NBCUNIVERSAL

Mark Lazarus Appointed New Chairman of the Group

NEW YORK — Legendary producer and broadcast executive Dick Ebersol has announced his resignation after a career spanning more than 40 years, the last 22 as the top executive at NBC Sports.

Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal and Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation said: “Dick Ebersol is an incredible talent whose contributions to the company over the last four decades in sports, news and entertainment are unsurpassed. Dick has masterfully produced everything from the Olympics and Sunday Night Football, to the Triple Crown, NHL games and major golf and tennis events. In the entertainment world, he helped create Saturday Night Live, one of the most significant programs in television. We will miss his intellect, experience, and passion for the television business.”

Dick Ebersol said, “What I have enjoyed most is working so closely with so many truly outstanding and incredibly talented people over decades of producing some of the greatest events in the world. Those relationships are what I cherish most. I have always said this business is about relationships and I have been fortunate enough to have more deep and meaningful friendships than any man could imagine.

“It has been a sincere privilege to tell so many remarkable stories that have inspired me throughout my entire career. Some of my favorite memories come from reading letters and talking to viewers who also have been moved by such powerful stories.

I simply want to say thank you to all of those people who have touched me so deeply throughout my career.”

Mark Lazarus, who is currently President, NBC Sports Cable Group, will become the new Chairman of the NBC Sports Group.

Said Burke: “Mark will take over an organization that is well-positioned for growth. Mark is an industry veteran who has worked with every major sports league, and I know that he will do a terrific job leading the team.”

We also have the biographies of both Ebersol and Lazarus and they’ll be posted after the jump.

Here’s Ebersol’s bio from NBCUniversal

Dick Ebersol

Chairman, NBC Sports Group

On April 27, 2009, the six “Commissioners of American Sport” – Roger Goodell (NFL), David Stern (NBA), Bud Selig (MLB), Gary Bettman (NHL), Tim Finchem (PGA Tour) and Brian France (NASCAR) – were part of an unprecedented presentation that concluded with Muhammad Ali awarding Dick Ebersol the prestigious Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

It was a fitting tribute to a producer and executive who Fortune Magazine said “has practically done it all in a storied TV career.” Known for his ability to amass large television audiences, Ebersol has produced eight of the top 10 most-watched television events in U.S. history and the only sports series to be the No. 1 show in primetime television.

Over more than three decades in television, Ebersol stands alone as an executive who has played a prominent role in the wide-ranging fields of sports, entertainment and news by possessing the rare combination of a producer’s creative vision, a CEO’s business acumen and a partner’s genuine desire for cooperation.

Ebersol’s crowning achievement has been establishing NBCUniversal as the home of the Olympic Games. Beginning in 1967, when he temporarily dropped out of Yale University to join Roone Arledge and ABC Sports as television’s first-ever Olympic researcher, his passion has been the Olympics. In 1989, Ebersol returned to NBC as president of NBC Sports. He served as executive producer for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, his first Olympics since Munich in 1972 for ABC, and then began an unprecedented run of Olympic rights agreements that established NBC as “America’s Olympic Network.”

In 1993, he secured the rights to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. In August of 1995, he acquired the rights for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It marked the first time that rights for consecutive Olympics were awarded at the same time. Later that same year, he was the driving force behind NBC Sports’ bold and historic acquisition of the exclusive media rights for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2006 Winter Olympics. The agreements marked the first time that the same network had been awarded the rights to five consecutive Olympics. In 2003, Ebersol led NBC to acquire the exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2010 Winter Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics. 

Ebersol’s career is unique, in part, because of its diversity. In addition to his sports prowess, Ebersol, along with Lorne Michaels, conceived and created “Saturday Night Live.” As an independent producer, he created iconic, Emmy Award-winning programs such as “Friday Night Videos” and “Later with Bob Costas.” Ebersol even served as senior vice president of NBC News.

Recognition for Ebersol’s accomplishments can be measured, in part, by the prestigious honors and awards he has won. He is regularly among the top 10 honorees on The Sporting News’ annual list of the 100 most powerful sports figures, including in 1996 when he was named the Most Powerful Person in Sports. In 1992, Ebersol was awarded the Olympic Order, an honor periodically bestowed by the International Olympic Committee to recognize remarkable contributions to the Olympic Movement. In 2005, Ebersol was inducted into both the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. In 2008, NBC won the Peabody Award for its coverage of the Beijing Opening Ceremony along with famed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who served as the event’s creative director. At the SportsBusiness Journal’s 2009 Sports Business Awards, Ebersol won Sports Executive of the Year and NBC Sports won Best in Sports Television. Broadcasting & Cable recognized Ebersol as “Broadcaster of the Year” in 2010 largely due to NBC Sports’ work on the Vancouver Olympics and NFL. In 2010, “Sunday Night Football” became the first sports series in history to become the most-watched primetime show on television.

Ebersol has led NBC Sports for 20 years. On May 1, 1989, he was named president of the division and was promoted to Chairman, NBC Sports & Olympics in June 1998. In December 2003, Ebersol agreed to a nine-year contract to continue running NBC Sports & Olympics through 2012. He was named Chairman of NBCUniversal Sports & Olympics in May 2004 when NBC and Universal merged.

Ebersol assumed his current title as Chairman, NBC Sports Group in 2011, when Comcast and GE completed their transaction creating a joint venture consisting of NBCUniversal businesses and Comcast’s cable networks, regional sports networks, and certain digital properties. He is now responsible for NBC Sports, NBC’s Olympic Division, The Golf Channel, Versus and the 10 Comcast Regional Sports Networks, as well as all their respective digital assets.

Under Ebersol’s leadership, NBC Sports has become synonymous with superior production that elevates the event, broad promotion and mutually-beneficial partnerships. He recently produced three milestone television events: the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 became the most-watched event in U.S. television history with a record 215 million viewers; the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in 2010 were the second-most watched Winter Olympics in history with 190 million viewers, trailing only the tabloid-fueled Lillehammer Games in 1994; and Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009 produced, at the time, the largest-single audience in U.S. television history with a record 152 million viewers. It is currently the second-most viewed program of all time.

The Super Bowl milestone was made possible in 2005 when Ebersol spearheaded the effort to return the NFL to NBC by negotiating an innovative six-year agreement that included moving the all-important NFL primetime broadcast package from Monday night to Sunday night, flexible scheduling for the first time ever, and Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012.

Ebersol’s early tenure at NBC Sports was highlighted by a spectacular string of sports-property acquisitions and renewals, including the NFL, NBA, Notre Dame football and MLB, through the formation of the joint-venture Baseball Network.

During the 1995-96 television season, for the only time in history, the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Summer Olympics were telecast by the same network. It was following this run in 1996 that The Sporting News named him the Most Powerful Person in Sports. By January 1998, NBC had been the home of four Super Bowls in six years, another unprecedented stretch.

Interspersed with his unparalleled sports accomplishments is Ebersol’s career in entertainment television. In 1974, he joined NBC as Director of Weekend Late Night Programming. It was in 1975 that Ebersol and Michaels conceived and developed “Saturday Night Live,” the groundbreaking comedy showcase that revolutionized the genre. Named Vice President, Late Night Programming at age 28, Ebersol became NBC’s first-ever vice president under the age of 30. After a brief departure, Ebersol returned to “SNL” in 1981 as executive producer and remained until 1985, spanning the Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal eras.

In 1983, he formed No Sleep Productions, a highly successful independent production company that created Emmy Award-winning NBC shows “Friday Night Videos” and “Later with Bob Costas,” and together with Vince McMahon, “Saturday Night’s Main Event.”

When Ebersol left “SNL” in 1985, he devoted his time to his production company until rejoining NBC in 1989.

And we have Mark Lazarus’ bio as well.

Mark Lazarus

President, NBC Sports Cable Group, NBC Sports Group

Mark Lazarus was named President, NBC Sports Cable Group on February 2, 2011. He oversees Golf Channel, VERSUS and the 11 Comcast SportNets, and reports directly to NBC Sports Group Chairman, Dick Ebersol. A 19-year cable industry veteran, and former Turner Entertainment Group president, Lazarus has worked with every major sports league, Hollywood studio and advertiser.

Most recently, Lazarus served as president of Media and Marketing for CSE. In this role, he led the agency’s sports and entertainment Media and Marketing divisions and oversaw the companies’ content, production, marketing and consulting practices.

Prior to joining CS&E, Lazarus was president of Turner Entertainment Group. In this capacity, he oversaw all aspects of Turner Entertainment Networks, which included TBS, Turner Network Television (TNT), Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and truTV; as well as, The Turner Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media unit, which includes Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Studios, Adult Swim and Boomerang. Additionally he set strategy and operations for digital businesses Cartoonnetwork.com, AdultSwim.com, Toonami Jetstream, Cartoon Network Video, GameTap and Super Deluxe; Peachtree TV, Turner Broadcasting’s local Atlanta station; Turner Sports, including all programming acquisitions, production, talent and digital strategies and Turner Entertainment Sales and Marketing.

Prior to being named Turner Entertainment Group president, Lazarus served as president of Turner Entertainment Sales and Marketing and president of Turner Sports. As president of Sales and Marketing, Lazarus was responsible for all advertising sales of TBS, WTBS (now Peachtree TV), TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner South. In his role as president of Turner Sports, he oversaw all sports acquisitions, programming and production for the networks. He led Turner Broadcasting’s acquisition of the cable rights to the NBA, NASCAR, Wimbledon and the British Open, as well as the Internet rights to NASCAR.com and PGA.com. He was also part of the team that developed sales strategies and the selling of Turner Field sponsorships and Philips Arena naming rights and sponsorships.

Lazarus was appointed executive vice president of Turner Sports Sales in May 1998, where he was also responsible for Turner’s strategic marketing unit and Global Client Solutions. In that post, he facilitated day-to-day integration with Turner Broadcasting’s entertainment, news and international sales force. He joined Turner Broadcasting Sales in 1990 as an account executive in sports and held titles of increasing responsibility with Turner Sports. Earlier, he was a network buyer and planner for Backer, Spielvogel, Bates, Inc., and an account executive for NBC Cable. 

A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Lazarus is on the Board of Governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and serves on the board of directors for Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, the East Lake Foundation, the PATH Foundation, and Compass Diversified Holdings.

That does it.