Cordella will lead brands including NBC Olympics, Golf Channel and NBC Sports Digital, as well as the sports businesses GolfNow and SportsEngine.

He will report to Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group and work with NBC Local on the company's regional sports strategy.

Other roles will include overseeing sport on the Peacock streaming platform, which Cordella helped to found.

He has worked at NBCUniversal since 2006 in a variety of leadership roles, including becoming President of Programming for NBC Sports and Peacock Sports last year.

His new role sees him take over from Pete Bevacqua, who is leaving to become athletic director at Notre Dame university.

Cordella, a former basketball player, has previously worked as Peacock's chief commercial officer and has won six Sports Emmy awards. 

NBCUniversal has promised a "Summer Games first" at Paris 2024 as every sport and event will be streamed on Peacock.

"Rick has been at the epicentre of NBC Sports for years with a proven track record of growth and innovation across platforms, particularly our flagship NBC network as well as Peacock, where he helped architect our leadership role in sports and streaming," Lazarus said. 

"Rick will oversee the evolution of our business as we continue to offer the best experiences and content to our viewers, as well as be the best partner to leagues and rights holders."

In May 2014, NBCUniversal signed a three-cycle broadcasting deal which locked the American network into screening the Olympic Games until 2032.

The $7.65 billion (£6.1 billion/€7.1 billion) package was one of the first major acts of Thomas Bach's International Olympic Committee Presidency.