 Comcast rebranded the network as NBC Sports Boston on October 2, 2017, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand.NBC Sports Boston holds the regional cable television rights to the NBA's Boston Celtics (the only remaining sports property that has aired its games on the network since its launch in 1981), the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (which first broadcast its games on the network from 1996 to 2007, before returning to the network in 2010), the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse and the Maine Red Claws of the National Basketball Development League (which have aired its games on the network since the team's formation in 2011).Until 2012, Comcast SportsNet New England also carried programming distributed nationally by Fox Sports Networks in lieu of a regional FSN affiliate.