Manhattan Cable (subsequently referred to as the MSG Network) debuted in the spring of 1969 and did all home events from the Madison Square Garden: New York Knicks basketball, New York Rangers hockey, college basketball, horse shows, Golden Gloves boxing, tennis, the Westminster Dog Show, ice capades, professional wrestling, etc.

When the MSG/HBO marriage ended in 1977, Madison Square Garden proceeded to seek a new partner to launch a national network to show off its events.

As previously mentioned USA's (or UA-Columbia as it was known at the time) coverage[4] begin in the 1979–80 season as a Monday night series[5] with Dan Kelly[6][7] doing play-by-play alongside a variety of commentators including Pete Stemkowski, Lou Nanne, and Brian McFarlane.

USA also missed Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between the Calgary Flames and Minnesota North Stars (April 30 and May 7 respectively) because of baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins vs. the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the Philadelphia Phillies respectively.

Because the USA Network was airing Masters highlights, Game 1 of the 1984 playoff series between the Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues (April 12) and Game 2 of the playoff series between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals (April 13) were aired on tape delay at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.

[28] Also, Hartford Whalers goaltender Mike Liut was added as a studio analyst for the Stanley Cup Finals.

[29][30] Meanwhile, for increased publicity opportunities, the Stroh Brewing Company[31] turned to such sports as hockey—which had been overlooked by Anheuser and Miller—and sponsored broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the USA cable network.

After the 1984–85 season, the NHL Board of Governors chose to have the USA Network and ESPN submit sealed bids.

[33][34] After the USA Network lost the rights to the NHL to ESPN, they largely abandoned sports after the early 1990s as the channel shifted almost exclusively to scripted entertainment.

As part of a 2011 contract renewal, Comcast's properties earned exclusive national rights for all Stanley Cup playoffs through 2021.

[38] On January 22, 2021, an internal memo sent by NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua announced that NBCSN would cease operations by the end of the year, and that USA Network would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including the Stanley Cup playoffs and NASCAR races, before NBCSN's shutdown.

[41] But with the NBC Sports contract expiring at the end of the 2020–21 season, the league desired to split its U.S. national media rights between multiple broadcasters.

[43][44] On April 26, 2021, Sports Business Journal reported[45] that NBC had officially pulled out[46] of bidding for future NHL rights.

[47] Analysts believed that once ESPN obtained not only more Stanley Cup Finals (four out of three) than NBC desired but also overall hockey content, it was not worth spending more money on a smaller package in contrast to what they were last paying the NHL.

USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York metro and Minnesota area due to the local rights to their respective teams in that markets.