Danny Parkins had just finished his second episode as co-host of FS1’s new show Breakfast Ball Tuesday and was headed to Grand Central Terminal to look for a place for his family to live in New York.

A Chicago native, Parkins had a meteoric rise in the radio business, landing his dream job as co-host of the afternoon drive-time Parkins & Spiegel Show on WSCR The Score, the top sports radio station in the Windy City.

Then television beckoned. Parkins has spent the last few months as a guest host on FS1’s First Things First with pal Nick Wright and then filling in for Colin Cowherd.

“They said they like what I did filling in for Colin and that they would be in touch in a couple of weeks,” Parkins told Broadcasting+Cable. “When I did finally hear from them and the conversation started shifting to ‘would you be willing to move,’ that’s when I realized that it was getting pretty serious. It all happened in a pretty quick period of time.”

Fox Sports decided to team Parkins with former NFL lineman Mark (Stink) Schlereth, a three-time Super Bowl winner, and Craig Carton, who had headlined the Craig Carton Show on FS1.

Parkins said he’d had both guys on his radio show, but didn’t really know them.

“Like a lot of these things, it’s kind of an arranged marriage,” he said.

“The vision is three guys who get along, but also could be brothers, with Stink being the oldest brother who has the experience, and Carton, who’s the middle brother who says a bunch of stuff that could be outlandish, attention-getting and hilarious,” Parkins said. “And I’m the younger brother who also thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room who is not afraid to take it to the older guys with more experience.”

In the first shows, Schlereth has been calling the plays. “He’s got three rings on his finger. I’m certainly not going to cross Mark Schlereth,” Parkins said. “I think it’s a three man weave. I fully anticipate being able to get all of my points out there.”

Parkins said the chemistry of the show will be helped by the three hosts’ experience doing sports radio. Schlereth had been doing radio in Denver, where his football career concluded. And Parkins called Carton a “radio legend.”

Carton had been the host of the top-rated Boomer and Carton with former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason on WFAN sports radio in New York until he was convicted for securities and wire fraud and served 12 months in prison. The show was simulcast nationally by CBS Sports Network. Carton was later rehired by WFAN and joined FS1.

Parkins’ radio show in Chicago was promoted as “a long four hours” a day. “Even in a quote-unquote slow time on the sports calendar, two hours is never going to feel like a long show for us,” he said. 

“We also are really good with active listening, you know, actually hearing what the other person says,” he added. “I think sometimes you take someone who only has done TV and then put them in long-form television and all of a sudden these segments can feel really long. That’s not the case for us, so I really like that the three of us have a radio background.”

He said Breakfast Ball is basically sports talk radio on TV. In Chicago, there was chemistry on Parkins & Spiegel, with co-host Matt Spiegel and producers Shane Riordan and Chris Tannehill.

“Now it’s going to be me, Craig and Mark,“ he said. ”That’s what I’m trying to recreate and make it the best sports jock television show possible. That might sound cliche, but it’s true because I need this to work and I’m highly motivated to make it work.”

Breakfast Ball is spending its debut week in FS1’s noon (ET) time slot while Cowherd is on vacation. It shifts to its regular 8 a.m. time slot next week.

“FS1 is evolving around a dynamic roster of sports talk personalities, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead,” said Charlie Dixon, executive VP and head of content, FS1. “From early morning to late afternoon, viewers can look forward to an array of compelling sports discussions, expert analysis and exclusive interviews, all designed to keep sports enthusiasts informed and entertained throughout the day.”

Football an Early Focus

With the NFL season about to start, Breakfast Ball is focused on football, football and more football, with a lot of talk about the Cowboys, Chiefs, 49ers, the Jets with Aaron Rodgers — and Parkins’ view that rookie Caleb Williams is already the best quarterback in Bears history.

“We’re playing the hits on TV, just like we played the hits on my show on Chicago radio,“ he said. ”In Chicago radio, it’s Bears, Bears, Bears, Cubs. This is NFL, NFL, NFL and then some national stories. Playing the hits is something that every radio boss I’ve ever had has said, and my new TV bosses have said the same thing.”

The show will have occasional big-name guests, like Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton. “We will have contributions from the terrific team of Fox experts, like Greg Jennings,” he said.

“Mark knows everybody. Everybody likes Mark. So we’d be crazy not to take advantage of his connections,” he added. “I’ve heard that Tom Brady works for Fox. That would be very exciting.”

While the football season never ends, with the draft, free agency and training camps all driving the sports conversation, Parkins expects to have more time for the NBA in May and June during the playoffs.

“We’re a week away from football season starting,“ he said. “We haven’t exactly planned out what the shows are going to look like in March.”

On the radio, Parkins had ample opportunity to share his personality and personal stories with the audience. Listeners are familiar with him being conceived during Bears’ Super Bowl victory in 1986, going with his father to watch Michael Jordan play for the Bulls, the birth of his children (one of whom picked NFL games against the spread on air), his willingness to trade his dog Omar (named after the character in The Wire) for quarterback DeShaun Watson and his brother’s battle with terminal brain cancer.

There were also a variety of attention-getting stunts from bringing a sign to Wrigley Field urging the Cubs to sign free agent Manny Machado to singing songs about letting Bears QBs Mitch Trubinsky and Justin Fields throw the ball to buying a Caleb Williams No. 13 jersey to encourage the Bears to draft the Heisman Trophy winner.

“TV audiences will probably never know me as completely as radio audience because radio is such a personal medium,“ he said. “There’s clearly a difference between radio and TV, but there are ways to get your personality out there. I’ll figure out ways to scratch my creative itch. I’m two days into my TV career, right? No one has told me that there are things that I can’t say.”

On Wednesday’s show, he was kidded by his co-hosts for already being spotted in front-row seats at Yankee Stadium and the U.S. Open. With the kids still in Chicago and the show at midday, “I’m living my best life,“ Parkins quipped.

In 2021, Parkins stayed on the air 24 hours as part of a “What About Chicago?” radiothon to raise money to build a supermarket in a Chicago neighborhood where healthy food was largely unavailable. 

His last stint on air at The Score was another marathon, this time working with the Chicago Cubs to support brain cancer research that raised more than $660,000.

“The radiothon will be continuing and I will be hosting,” Parkins said. “It’s in my contract. [Fox] said anything that’s important to you is important to us, so as long as the Cubs and [Score owner] Audacy still want to do it, I will be missing one or two days from the TV show next August to be back in Chicago hosting the radiothon again.”

Being on the radio in Chicago was Parkins’ dream job. Now he’s given that up for TV. Is being part of a pregame show now part of his future? Or being part of an in-game broadcast booth.

“We are in uncharted waters now. Now we are into a portion of the program that was not scheduled and was not planned out,” Parkins said. “

“I'm ambitious, so any opportunities that come my way, I'm going to be interested in exploring, but I can honestly say I have not considered that,” he said. “I’m moving my family and I'm leaving my literal dream job for this. The only professional goal I have right now is to make this television show work and be as good on TV as I could possibly be so that they keep wanting to put me on TV.”

The UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament Round of 16 and ESPN’s UFC 303 mixed martial arts pay-per-view event highlight the live televised sports events airing during the last weekend of June.  

FS1on Saturday will televise UEFA Euro 2024 matches between Switzerland and Italy, and Germany and Denmark. On Sunday, Fox will cover the England-Slovakia and Spain-Georgia matches. 

In the NWSL on Saturday, ESPN will televise the Bay FC-Racing Louisville FC game while Ion airs the Washington Spirit-North Carolina Courage and Utah Royals-Portland Thorns FC matches. 

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute the UFC 303 pay-per-view event featuring the Alex Pereira-Jiri Prochazka light heavyweight championship rematch bout. Pereira defeated Prochazka in UFC 295 this past November. In the boxing ring, ESPN on Saturday will air the junior welterweight title fight between titleholder Teofimo Lopez and Steve Claggett, while DAZN streams the WBC junior bantamweight title bout between champion Juan Francisco Estrada and Jesse Rodriguez. 

In golf, CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and NBC and Golf Channel will televise the US Senior Open. 

ABC will offer weekend coverage of the X Games from Ventura, Calif. On the baseball field, Roku Tv will stream a Sunday morning matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the World Series Champion Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles.

On the basketball court, ESPN on Sunday will air a WNBA doubleheader featuring the Atlanta Dream-New York Liberty and Indiana Fever-Phoenix Mercury matchups. 

The NHL’s march to the Stanley Cup Final, the UFC 302 pay-per-view event and the final week of the UFL’s regular season highlight the list of live TV sports events airing during the first weekend of June. 

The NHL playoffs continue on Saturday with ABC’s telecast of Game 6 of the New York Rangers-Florida Panthers Eastern Conference Final, with the Panthers holding a 3-2 lead. On Sunday, TNT will televise Game 6 of the Dallas Stars-Edmonton Oilers Western Conference Final, which is tied at two games apiece heading into Friday night’s action.

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute the UFC 302 mixed martial arts pay-per-view event featuring the main event bout between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. 

On the football field, the UFL’s final regular season weekend takes place with ESPN airing Saturday’s Michigan Panthers-Birmingham Stallions game and Fox airing the San Antonio Brahmas-St. Louis Battlehawks game. On Sunday, ESPN will televise the Arlington Renegades-D.C. Defenders contest, while Fox carries the Houston Roughnecks-Memphis Showboats game. 

On the racetrack, Fox on Saturday will air the NASCAR Truck Toyota 200 race. On Sunday, USA Network will televise the IndyCar Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix race and FS1 will air the NASCAR Cup Enjoy Illinois 300 race. 

On the links, NBC will offer weekend final-round coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open, while CBS and Golf Channel air the PGA’s Canadian Open tournament. 

 Major League Baseball’s League Championship Series proved to be a major hit for TBS and FS1 as both networks finished at the top of last week’s primetime charts.

TBS averaged 2.9 million viewers for the week of October 16 to October 22 to top all cable networks, followed by FS1, which averaged 2.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers provided by Fox News. 

Both networks were bolstered by their respective coverage of baseball's playoffs games. TBS was led by its October 20 coverage of the Philadelphia Phillies-Arizona Diamondbacks National League Championship series, which drew 5.39 million viewers, while FS1’s October 22 Texas Rangers-Houston Astros American League Championship telecast drew 4.76 million viewers.

Also: MLB Hopes Diamondbacks-Phillies Game 7 Will Spark World Series Ratings Rally

Fox News finished third with 2 million viewers, followed by ESPN with 1.8 million viewers and MSNBC with 1.2 million watchers. Hallmark Channel was sixth with 917,000 viewers, followed by HGTV (814,000 viewers), CNN (687,000), INSP (601,000) and TLC (565,000). 

Fox News finished first on the total day chart for the fifth straight week, followed by MSNBC (918,000 viewers), TBS (732,000), ESPN (666,000) and CNN (631,000).

Major League Baseball hopes to build ratings momentum going into the World Series with a strong performance from TBS’s telecast of the deciding Game 7 of the National League Championship Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies.

With both the Diamondbacks-Phillies series and the American League Championship series between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros having gone to a deciding Game 7, baseball hopes to salvage a lackluster ratings performance so far in the playoffs. 

Fox and FS1's October 23 Rangers-Astros Game 7 telecast averaged 6.77 million viewers, topping only the 2020 Astros-Tampa Bay Rays Game 7 as the least-watched LCS Game 7 on record, according to SportsMedia Watch. Overall, the series averaged 5 million viewers, down from last year's four-game Astros-Yankees series on TBS, but the most watched LCS on Fox and FS1 since 2019's Astros-Yankees series, according to Nielsen numbers provided by Fox Sports. 

Fox’s October 15 Rangers-Astros Game 1 was the most-watched game of the series with 7.05 million viewers. 

TBS's October 23 Diamondbacks-Phillies Game 6 afternoon telecast averaged 4.6 million viewers, according to SportsMedia Watch. With tonight's Game 7 still to be played, TBS’s October 20 Phillies-Diamondbacks Game 4 is currently the most-watched game of the series with 5.39 million viewers, according to SportsMedia Watch.

Total viewing for the opening Wild Card rounds across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 were down 18%, according to Nielsen data, with the four two-game sweeps averaging 2.25 million viewers vs. 2.73 million last season. 

The Division Series round on Fox/FS1 and TBS — where none of the four series went to a fifth and deciding game — averaged 3.13 million viewers, down 8% from last year (3.40 million), according to Nielsen.

NBC’s October 8 Sunday Night Football telecast was the most-watched sports event for the second week in a row, while Major League Baseball playoff telecasts topped non-football viewership.

NBC’s telecast of the San Francisco 49ers' blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys  averaged 24.28 million viewers for the week of October 2-8, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch. Overall, NFL games secured the top five most-watched sports events for the week. 

ABC’s October 7 Oklahoma Sooners-Texas Longhorns telecast drew 7.30 million viewers to finish as the top-rated college football game. 

Baseball postseason game telecasts secured the top four slots for non-football audiences, led by TBS’s October 7 telecast of the Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves National League Divisional Series opening game. 

Fox Sports is hoping to continue to ride the on-the-field success of the U.S. Women’s National Team heading into Sunday’s (August 6) knockout round match against Sweden.

Fox has averaged 4.3 million viewers for its three US Team Group Stage telecasts, a record for USWNT Women’s World Cup English-language telecasts, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox Sports. The viewership is up 11% from the 2019 USWNT Group Stage average from France. 

Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill said Fox’s ratings numbers will continue to build alongside the U.S. Team’s success in seeking an unprecedented tournament three-peat.  

“The viewership for the three U.S. matches have so far been record-setting,” Mulvihill told Multichannel News. “We love the way that the country is responding to the national team and the ratings are a payoff for the team’s sustained success.”

Overall, Fox and FS1 averaged a combined 610,000 viewers for the first 46 games of the Women’s World Cup tournament, down 37% compared to the 2019 tournament’s group stage performance and down 33% compared to the 2015 tournament. This year's Women's World Cup viewership is up 9% and 143% compared to the 2011 and 2007 Women’s World Cup tournaments, respectively, according to Nielsen.   

While the U.S. Team is fueling Fox Sports’ Women's World Cup ratings, Mulvihill is confident that viewers will continue to tune into the tournament even if the U.S. Team doesn’t make it to the finals. He pointed to the strong performance of the 2022 men’s World Cup finals sans the U.S. team as an example of the overall appeal of international soccer tournament play on television. 

“We’ve seen on the men’s World Cup side what happens when the US Team is eliminated,” Mulvihill said. “There is a certain moderation of viewers [without the US team], but I think the numbers that we’ve seen for non-US games so far have actually been pretty good, and I think we will continue to see some interest in some of the stronger countries that would go on, whether that’s France, Sweden or whomever it might be. We would still be optimistic.” 

The schedule of live sports events for the first weekend of August begins on the soccer field as the FIFA Women’s World Cup enters its round of 16.

The US Soccer Team will continue its quest for a three-peat in the tournament Sunday morning when it faces Sweden on Fox. On Saturday, Fox will televise the Netherlands-South Africa match while FS1 airs the Switzerland-Spain and Japan-Norway games. 

In the ring, DAZN Saturday night will distribute a pay-per-view boxing match between YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC champion Nate Diaz. In the octagon, ESPN will air a UFC Fight Night contest between Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font.

Also: Spence-Crawford PPV Fight Packs Major Performance Punch

On the racetrack track NBC on Saturday will air the NASCAR Xfinity Series Cabo Wabo 250 race, while on Sunday the network will telecast the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix event. USA will air a pair of races Sunday including the IMSA SportsCar Weekend and the NASCAR Cup FireKeepers Casino 400.

On the baseball field, Peacock on Sunday will stream the Chicago White Sox-Cleveland Indians game, while ESPN will televise the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres matchup as part of its Sunday Night Baseball telecast. 

On the court, ABC on Sunday will air the Las Vegas Aces-New York Liberty game, while CBS on Saturday will provide week seven coverage of the Big3 basketball league.

Fox Sports will kick off coverage of the month-long soccer Women’s World Cup Thursday (July 20) from Australia and New Zealand, looking to build on the momentum generated by the two-time defending champion United States team as well as from last fall’s Men’s World Cup. 

Fox and FS1 will offer English-language coverage for all 64 World Cup matches while Telemundo, Universo and Peacock provide Spanish-language coverage of the games. The U.S. women’s team will take the field July 21 against Vietnam, followed by the Netherlands on July 26 and Portugal on August 1. 

The Women’s World Cup final will take place on August 20 from Australia, according to Fox Sports. 

Fox Sports hopes its World Cup ratings success from the 2022 men’s tournament in Qatar, which posted a 30% audience increase over the 2018 Men’s World Cup tournament from Russia. The Argentina-France final set a record for a Men's World Cup English-language telecast with more than 16 million viewers tuning in across Fox and Fox Sports streaming services, Nielsen reported.

Fox Sports president of production and operations/executive producer Brad Zager spoke with Multichannel News about the upcoming Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, a lightly edited version of which appears below.   

MCN: What are the advantages of the Australian venue for the Women’s World Cup?

Brad Zager: The advantage is you're in one of the prettiest, amazing sites to be able to host the Women’s World Cup. We feel like that will definitely come across to the viewers at home from our location at Campbells Cove with the iconic Sydney Opera House behind us. We’re excited about showcasing Sydney through our coverage as well as the other venues including New Zealand where most of the early U.S. team matches will be.

MCN: Will the time differences between the U.S. and the World Cup venues serve as a detriment to viewership?

BZ: When you sign up for the World Cup, you know that is part of it, so you just go with it. The first couple of matches have the U.S. team in New Zealand, and that two-hour difference with Sydney does help us, especially on the East Coast. Hopefully we'll get off to a great start and gain momentum. The U.S. team is such a big story and I think it'll transcend any time zone issue. That’s a story everybody likes to get behind in this country, no matter what time they’re playing.

MCN: How much momentum does women's soccer have going into the World Cup?

BZ: I can’t imagine any more momentum than the U.S. team going for a three-peat. This is just an amazing group of athletes representing the U.S., and nobody has any less expectations than another win, so I think there’s a ton of momentum. Then you have the fact that the men’s World Cup soccer tournament just played this past fall, so there hasn’t been a huge gap between the momentum created for soccer by the amazing World Cup final in the fall and the beginning of the Women’s World Cup tournament.

NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe on Tuesday signed off from the long-running FS1 talk show Undisputed with co-host Skip Bayless, ending his seven-year run on the daily series.

Sharpe, who earlier this month reportedly reached a contract buyout agreement with Fox Sports, joined Bayless to create Skip and Shannon: Undisputed in 2016 after Bayless left ESPN’s First Take sports talk show with Stephen A. Smith. 

Despite occasional on-air friction between the two hosts over the years, Sharpe complimented Bayless in his departing remarks. “The opportunity you gave me to become what I became ... I’m forever indebted to you and I'll never forget what you did for me,” he said. “You’ve helped me grow more than you’ll ever know.” 

Fox Sports has not named a replacement for Sharpe on Undisputed. In a statement, the company said that Sharpe has been an “invaluable member of the show's success” along with Bayless since its launch. “We appreciate his dedication and are grateful for his contributions to Fox Sports,” Fox Sports said in the statement. “The Fox Sports family wishes Shannon the very best and we look forward to his next chapter.”

The lineup of live TV sports events set for the Memorial Day weekend stars on the racetrack as  the 107th Indianapolis 500 revs up on Sunday.

NBC will televise the annual flagship IndyCar Series auto race Sunday afternoon from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nine former Indy 500 champions will compete in the race, including last year’s champion Marcus Ericsson. 

Also on Sunday, Fox will air the NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 race, while ESPN carries the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix event. 

On the basketball court, the Miami Heat will look to close out the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of their NBA Eastern Conference Finals series on TNT. If the Celtics win, TNT will televise Game 7 of the series on Memorial Day.

On the ice, the Vegas Golden Knights will look to advance to the NHL Stanley Cup finals with a win against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals series on ABC. If Dallas extends the series to a Game 6, ESPN will televise the action on Memorial Day. 

In WNBA action, CBS on Saturday will televise the Connecticut Sun-New York Liberty game. 

On the pro football field, Fox Saturday will air the USFL game between the Birmingham Stallions and the New Orleans Breakers and FS1 will televise the Philadelphia Stars-Pittsburgh Maulers contest. On Sunday, USA Network televises the Houston Gamblers-Memphis Showboats game, while FS1 offers the Michigan Panthers-New Jersey Generals game. 

On the links, CW will air final round coverage of the Trump National LIV pro golf tournament, while CBS airs the Charles Schwab Challenge PGA tournament and NBC televises the Senior PGA Tournament.

On the soccer field, USA Network, Bravo, CNBC, Syfy and Peacock will team to carry all 10 of the Premier League's “Championship Sunday” schedule of games. 

Sports fans will have plenty of pro basketball, hockey and football playoffs action to watch during the last weekend of April.

The NBA launches its second round of playoff games Saturday with the Phoenix Suns-Denver Nuggets game on TNT and Sunday afternoon with the Miami Heat- New York Knicks on ABC. Also Sunday, the Golden State Warriors will meet the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 of their first round series on ABC. 

The NHL winds down the first round of its playoffs schedule Saturday with Game 6 telecasts of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Tampa Bay Lightning (TBS), New Jersey Devils-New York Rangers (ABC) and Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings (TBS) series.

On Sunday TNT will air a pair of Game 7 showdowns as the Florida Panthers meet the Boston Bruins and the Seattle Kracken face off against the Colorado Avalanche.

The XFL will kick off its Divisional Championships games Saturday with the South Division Championship game between Arlington Renegades and the Houston Roughnecks on ESPN2. On Sunday ESPN will air the North Division Championship game between the Seattle Sea Dragons and  the D.C. Defenders. 

The USFL offers up week three action with two Saturday games including the New Orleans Breakers against the Birmingham Stallion (USA Network) and the Memphis Showboats against the Houston Gamblers (Fox).

On the baseball diamond, Peacock on Sunday will stream the Chicago Cubs-Miami Marlins game, while ESPN will air the Philadelphia Phillies-Houston Astros game in a rematch of the 2022 World Series as part of its Sunday Night Baseball package. 

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will air final round weekend coverage of the Mexican Open PGA tournament. On the soccer field, Peacock and USA Network will air eight Premier League games combined on Saturday and Sunday, while Fox and FS1 will combine to air two MLS contests over the weekend. 

NBC on Sunday will air the Alabama Grand Prix IndyCar Series race, while ESPN carries the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Formula One event.

 This weekend’s list of live TV sports events begins Saturday on the basketball court with the start of the NBA Playoffs. 

After a week of play-in games to determine the final four playoff teams, the NBA’s first round, best-of-seven post-season series begin Saturday afternoon on ESPN with the Brooklyn Nets against the Philadelphia 76’ers, the Atlanta Hawks facing the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks meeting the Cleveland Cavaliers. ABC will round out Saturday’s action with the Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings telecast.

On Sunday, ABC will televise the L.A. Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies contest, while TNT offers up a tripleheader beginning with the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix Suns clash. Also slated for Sunday on TNT is the Milwaukee Bucks game against the winner of Friday’s Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat play-in contest, and the Denver Nuggets matchup against Friday’s Oklahoma City Thunder-Minnesota Timberwolves winner. 

Football fans will have two spring leagues to watch as the USFL kicks off its second season Saturday alongside week nine of the XFL's inaugural season. Fox on Saturday will televise USFL matches featuring the Philadelphia Stars and Memphis Showboats and the New Jersey Generals against the Birmingham Stallions, while NBC on Sunday will carry the Houston Gamblers-Michigan Panthers contest and FS1 will air the Pittsburgh Maulers-New Orleans Breakers game. 

On the XFL front, ABC on Saturday will televise the Vegas Vipers-Houston Roughnecks matchup while ESPN2 tackles the Orlando Guardians-San Antonio Brahmas game. On Sunday, ESPN will air the Arlington Renegades-D.C. Defenders game and the Seattle Sea Dragons-St. Louis Battlehawks contest.  

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will televise weekend final round coverage of the PGA RBC Heritage golf tournament, while on the bowling lanes Fox and FS1 will offer weekend coverage of  the PBA World Series of Bowling tournament.

USA, Peacock and NBC will continue its weekend Premier League coverage with a total of nine live games across Saturday and Sunday. Fox on Sunday will air an MLS contest between LAFC and LA Galaxy 

On the racetrack NBC on Sunday will televise the Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar race, while FS1 televises the NASCAR Cup NOCO 400 race. On the baseball diamond, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball contest will feature the Texas Rangers against the Houston Astros. 

The World Baseball Classic concludes tonight with a highly-anticipated finals matchup between Team USA and Japan airing live on FS1.

Japan, which won the first two WBC titles in 2006 and 2009, will face the tournament’s defending champions in Team USA, capping off a thrilling tournament in which both teams won come-from-behind games throughout the three-week, 20-team event.

Team USA defeated Cuba to advance to the finals, but it was a late-inning, comeback win over Venezuela in the quarterfinal round that galvanized the team’s march to the finals. Japan advanced to the finals in dramatic fashion, defeating Mexico on a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning. 

FS1 will air the USA-Japan game live beginning at 7 p.m. (ET). 

This weekend’s lineup of live TV sports telecasts begins on the baseball field as the World Baseball Classic continues with games on Saturday and Sunday.

Team USA will take the field for the international baseball tournament on Saturday against Great Britain on Fox and on Sunday against Mexico on FS1. Overall Fox, FS1 and FS2 will air 15 World Baseball Classic games over the weekend. 

Also: Fox Sports Steps to the Plate with World Baseball Classic Coverage

On the NBA court, ABC on Saturday will air a primetime game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, and ESPN on Sunday will televise the N.Y. Knicks-L.A. Lakers contest. 

On the racetrack, Fox on Sunday will air the NASCAR Cup United Rentals Work United 500 race. On the ice, ABC on Saturday will televise the Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins game, while on Sunday TNT will air the N.Y. Rangers-Pittsburgh Penguins matchup.

March Madness will officially kick off Sunday with CBS’ live airing of the NCAA Men’s college basketball tournament selection show, and ESPN’s live telecast of the Women’s college basketball tournament selection show. 

The XFL tees up week four of its inaugural pro football season Saturday with an FX doubleheader featuring the Houston Roughnecks-Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas-Seattle Sea Dragons games. On Sunday, ESPN2 will air the Arlington Renegades-St. Louis Battlehawks and the Vegas Vipers-D.C. Defenders contests.

On the soccer field, Peacock and USA will air nine Premier League soccer games over the weekend. In the ring, Showtime will air the Tim Tszu-Tony Harrison junior middleweight title fight.■ 

Fox Sports will take the field March 7 for its coverage of the World Baseball Classic international tournament.

Fox, FS1, FS2, Tubi and Fox Deportes will combine to carry live all 47 games of the three-week, 20-team international elimination baseball tournament that kicks off with the Cuba-Netherlands matchup on FS1. 

Fox will televise the first game for Team USA, which features such players as Mike Trout, Trea Turner and Adam Wainwright, as it meets England on March 11. Fox Sports announcers Joe Davis and John Smoltz will call the Team USA opener, according to the company. 

Also:  Eric Shanks, Fox Sports Find Success With a Time-Tested Playbook

All World Baseball Classic games will be played across four venues, including Chase Field in Phoenix and LoanDepot Park in Miami, as well as the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and Taichung Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan.

Team USA won the last World Baseball Classic in 2017; the 2021 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. Japan won the first two WBC tournaments in 2006 and 2009, while the Dominican Republic won in 2013.

“What a fantastic way to build excitement around the 2023 baseball season, with the best players in the world facing off for pride of country,” Fox Sports president and chief operating officer Mark Silverman said in a statement. ■ 

Fox Sports will launch its new exclusive Major League Soccer package Saturday, with a major focus on providing linear TV exposure for the league's 28th season.

Fox Sports will distribute approximately 34 regular-season games as part of the four-year deal, with at least 15 regular-season games on Fox. The remainder of the games will air on FS1. Fox Deportes will air all Fox and FS1 telecasts in Spanish.

Fox will open up its coverage on February 25 with Nashville SC-New York City FC, while FS1 on Sunday will air the Seattle Sounders FC-Colorado Rapids contest, according to Fox Sports. 

Fox Sports’s MLS deal does not include streaming rights, which Apple TV purchased as part of a 10-year deal that includes all MLS regular season and postseason games. Apple TV's MLS Season Pass will feature all MLS regular and post season games for $14.99 per month.

Still, Fox Sports President and CEO Eric Shanks said that the deal emphasizes the continued value and importance of live sports programming on linear TV.

Also: Eric Shanks, Fox Sports Find Success With a Time-Tested Playbook

“Sure, [MLS] did an [Apple TV] streaming deal, but they really wanted to have games on broadcast every week,” he said.■

The Tv sports world will be focused on Arizona this weekend as Fox televises Super Bowl LVII, part of a lineup of live sports events airing this weekend. 

Fox on Sunday will televise Super Bowl LVII featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles from State Farm Stadium in Arizona. Fox Sports NFL play-by-play announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Gregg Olsen will call their first Super Bowl on the network. 

Also: Fox's Kevin Burkhardt Is Ready to Call Super Bowl LVII

On the ice, ABC will air an NHL afternoon doubleheader featuring the Tampa Bay Lightning-Dallas Stars and the Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins contests. The network will also hit the basketball court Saturday with a primetime telecast between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, as well as a Sunday afternoon telecast featuring the Memphis Grizzlies-Boston Celtics game. 

In the ring, Showtime on Saturday will air a February 11 junior lightweight title bout between Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster. In the octagon, ESPN Plus Saturday will offer the UFC 284 pay-per-view fight card featuring a main event bout between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.

Weekend games featuring top 10-ranked men’s college basketball teams starts with third-ranked Alabama taking on Auburn on ESPN, fourth-ranked Arizona facing Staford on ESPN2 and  fifth-ranked Texas hosting West Virginia on ESPN2. Other games include No. 7 UCLA-Oregon (ESPN), No. 8 Virginia-Duke (ESPN), No. 9 Kansas-Oklahoma (CBS) and No. 10 Marquette-Georgetown (FS1).

On Sunday, top-ranked Purdue takes on Northwestern on the Big Ten Network. 

Elsewhere, CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the Phoenix Open PGA golf tournament.■  

The National Football League Divisional Playoffs lead a busy weekend of live TV sports action.

NFL playoffs action kicks off Saturday with the AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Kansas City Chiefs on NBC, followed by a NFC Divisional Playoffs primetime matchup between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles on Fox.

Sunday’s action begins with CBS’s coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals-Buffalo Bills AFC playoffs game followed by Fox's coverage of the Dallas Cowboys-San Francisco 49’ers NFC playoffs contest.

In the octagon, ESPN Plus will offer via pay-per-view the UFC 283 fight card featuring a main event bout between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill for the UFC light heavyweight championship. 

In men's college hoops, second-ranked Kansas plays 14th-ranked TCU on CBS, while fourth-ranked Alabama travels to play Missouri on the SEC Network and fifth-ranked UCLA battles 11th-ranked Arizona on ABC. Other games include No. 7 Texas-West Virginia (ESPN), No. 8 Xavier-Georgetown (FS1), No. 9 Tennessee-LSU (ESPN) and No. 10 Virginia-Wake Forest (ESPNU).

On Sunday, college basketball games include top-ranked Houston taking on Temple on ESPN and third-ranked Purdue facing Maryland on FS1.

On the soccer field, NBC, USA Network and Peacock will combine to offer nine live Premier League game telecasts throughout the weekend. ■ 

NFL post-season action kicks off the list of live sports programming airing over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

On Saturday Fox will televise the NFC Wild Card game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49’ers, while NBC will air the Los Angeles Chargers-Jacksonville Jaguars AFC Wild Card game.

Sunday’s action will feature the AFC Wild Card with the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills on CBS as well as the Baltimore Ravens against the Cincinnati Bengals on NBC. 

Fox on Sunday will air the NFC Wild Card matchup between the N.Y. Giants and Minnesota Vikings. On Monday night, ABC and ESPN will televise the primetime NFC playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

On the basketball court, ABC will air a Saturday night primetime NBA matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat. On Monday, TNT will televise a doubleheader featuring the Miami Heat against the Atlanta Hawks and the Phoenix Suns battling the Memphis Grizzlies. 

On the soccer field, USA, Peacock and NBC will offer up nine Premier League games combined on Saturday and Sunday. 

Saturday’s college basketball schedule of games featuring top 10-ranked teams includes second-ranked Kansas taking on No. 14 Iowa State on the Big 12 Network. ESPN will televise games including fourth-ranked Alabama battling LSU, fifth-ranked Tennessee hosting Kentucky, No. 9 Arizona playing Oregon and No. 10 Texas against Texas Tech.

Sunday’s games include No. 6 UConn-St. Johns (FS1), while Monday’s tilt features third-ranked Purdue-Michigan State (Fox). ■ 

Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas original holiday movies lineup delivered a big primetime ratings performance for the network during the Thanksgiving holiday week.

Hallmark Channel averaged 1.7 million viewers in primetime on the strength of seven holiday film premieres during the week of November 21 to November 27, finishing only behind ESPN’s 3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The sports network notched its second-straight primetime win behind its Monday Night Football and college football game telecasts.

Also: Hallmark Channel's ‘Three Wise Men and a Baby’ Holiday Movie Delivers Ratings Gift

Fox News finished third for the week with 1.6 million viewers, followed by Paramount Network, which averaged 1.1 million viewers. MSNBC pulled into the fifth spot with 791,000 viewers, followed by HGTV’s 702,000 watchers.

TLC finished seventh with 699,000 viewers, followed by Food Network (695,000 viewers), History (658,000) and INSP (657,000).

Fox News held on to the top spot on the total day chart for the 47th consecutive week with an average of 1.2 million viewers, followed by ESPN (1 million viewers), Hallmark Channel (878,000), World Cup-infused FS1 (589,000) and MSNBC (556,000), according to Nielsen. ■

The TV schedule for live sports programming airing during the last weekend in October begins at the diamond, with Fox televising Game 2 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Also on Saturday, Showtime will distribute via pay-per-view a boxing card featuring YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC mixed martial arts champion Anderson Silva. In addition, ESPN Plus will feature a UFC Fight Night event featuring featherweights Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen. 

Week nine of the college football season begins Saturday in Florida with the Florida Gators facing top-ranked Georgia on CBS and second-ranked Ohio State visiting 13th-ranked Penn State on Fox. Third-ranked Tennessee will face 19th-ranked Kentucky on ESPN, and fourth-ranked Michigan will take on in-state rival Michigan State on ABC. 

Other games include No. 7 TCU-West Virginia (ESPN), No. 8 Oregon-Cal (FS1), No. 9 Oklahoma State-No. 22 Kansas State (Fox) and No. 10 Wake Forest-Louisville (ACC Network).

On Sunday, Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers will face Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football telecast.

On the soccer field, CBS on Saturday will televise the National Women's Soccer League championship game between Portland and Kansas City. Also, USA Network, Peacock and NBC will distribute 11 live English Premier League games combined on Saturday and Sunday while ABC and FS1 will each televise an MLS game on Sunday. 

NBC on Saturday will televise the Xfinity Series Dead on Tools 250 race, and on Sunday will air the NASCAR Cup Xfinity 500. ■  

Cable networks airing live sports programming scored big ratings returns last week, led by baseball playoffs-infused TBS.

TBS, bolstered by its coverage of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, averaged 2.9 million viewers during the week of October 17 to October 23 to top all cable networks, according to Nielsen. ESPN, which continued to draw big audiences to Monday Night Football, finished second for the week with 2.7 million viewers.

FS1, which aired the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, pulled into fourth place in primetime with 1.6 million viewers, and in sixth place on the total day chart with 484,000 viewers.

Fox News finished third in primetime for the week with 2.3 million viewers, while MSNBC rounded out the top five most watched networks with 1.1 million viewers.

TNT was sixth with 1 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (982,000 viewers), HGTV (833,000), TLC (741,000) and INSP (635,000).

Fox News Channel remained atop the total-day charts for the 42nd week, fighting off challengers TBS (892,000 viewers), ESPN (888,000), MSNBC (719,000) and Hallmark Channel (549,000), Nielsen reported. ■  

Live sports programming continued to propel cable network ratings in primetime as ESPN and TBS topped last week's ratings chart.

ESPN — bolstered by its Monday Night Football and weekend college football telecasts — won its second-straight primetime weekly title, averaging 3 million viewers during the week of October 10-16, according to Nielsen. Coverage of Major League Baseball’s postseason American League Division Series helped TBS finish second in primetime with 2.4 million viewers, while the two National League Division Series led FS1 to a fourth-place finish with 1.3 million viewers.

Cable news networks Fox News Channel (2.1 million viewers) and MSNBC (1.3 million) took third and fifth place, respectively.

HGTV finished sixth with 808,000 viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (780,000 viewers), TLC (673,000), TNT (656,000) and CNN (649,000).

Fox News (1.4 million viewers) held off a strong charge from ESPN (896,000) and TBS (848,000) to top the total day chart for the 41st consecutive week. MSNBC (843,000) and FS1 (562,000) rounded out the top five most-watched networks in the category for the week, according to Nielsen. ■ 

This weekend’s list of live TV sports events begins in the boxing ring as Fox Sports distributes a Saturday night pay-per-view boxing card featuring former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

Wilder, whose last three PPV fights against heavyweight champion Tyson Fury combined drew more than 1.7 million pay-per-view buys, will fight division contender Robert Helenius as part of the PPV boxing event offered via In Demand and PPV.com. Also on Saturday, ESPN will distribute the lightweight championship rematch bout between titleholder Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr.

In addition, ESPN Plus will stream a Saturday afternoon main event bout between women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. 

On the baseball diamond, the division series playoff round continues on Saturday with TBS airing game four of the NLDS Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres series. Both series were tied one game apiece heading into Friday’s action. 

FS1 will air game three of the ALDS series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians, with the Yankees holding a 1-0 game lead prior to Friday’s game, as well as the Houston Astros-Seattle Mariners series, with Houston holding a two games to none lead in the best-of-five series.  

College football launches its seventh week of regular-season action starting with top-ranked Georgia against Vanderbilt on the SEC Network, third-ranked Alabama against No. 6 Tennessee on CBS, fourth-ranked Clemson traveling to face Florida State on ABC and fifth-ranked Michigan battling tenth-ranked Penn State on Fox. Also on tap for Saturday is No. 7 USC-Utah (Fox), No. 8 Oklahoma State-TCU (ABC) and No. 9 Ole Miss-Auburn (ESPN).

NBC on Saturday will air the Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 302 playoffs race and Sunday’s NASCAR Cup South Point 400 playoffs race. 

NBC on Sunday will air its Sunday Night Football game telecast featuring the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles and their NFC East division rival Dallas Cowboys.■ 

The first weekend of October’s live TV sports schedule begins on the baseball diamond as Major League Baseball enters the final weekend of the 2022 regular season, highlighted by the NL East division battle between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves.

The Mets lead the defending World Series champion Braves by one game in the division heading into a crucial three-game series beginning Friday night. On Saturday, Fox will televise game two of Mets-Braves, while the third and final game will air Sunday on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast.

Saturday’s college football schedule begins in Missouri as top-ranked Georgia takes on the Tigers on the SEC Network, while second-ranked Alabama battles Arkansas on CBS. Third-ranked Ohio State takes on Rutgers on the Big Ten Network, and Fox will televise fourth-ranked Michigan’s game with Big Ten rival Iowa.

No. 5 Clemson will host No. 10 NC State on ABC, No. 6 USC will host Arizona State on ESPN, No. 7 Kentucky meets Ole Miss on ESPN and No. 9 Oklahoma State battles Baylor on Fox.

Sunday’s NFL action features an early morning NFL Network telecast from London featuring the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. After Sunday afternoon regional NFL game telecasts on CBS and Fox, NBC will air live the Kansas City Chiefs-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Sunday Night Football.

English Premier League soccer games will air on USA Network and Peacock throughout the weekend, while ABC and FS1 will televise Major League Soccer games on Sunday.

On Sunday, NBC will air the NASCAR Cup YellaWood 500 auto race, while FS1 televises the NHRA Midwest Nationals drag racing competition.

In the Octagon, ESPN Plus on Saturday will stream a UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event bout between female straw-weights Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan. ■

The lineup of live TV sports events for the last weekend of August kicks off on the football field with a number of college football games on the major broadcast and cable networks.

Fox will kick off the lineup with the Nebraska-Northwestern game from Ireland. ESPN will air the Howard and Alabama State game, while FS1 will televise the Connecticut-Utah State contest. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock will stream the Sunday afternoon Los Angeles Dodgers-Miami game, and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the defending champion Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals.

On the racetrack, NBC on Saturday will air live coverage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup series. In the boxing ring ESPN will televise a Jose Pedraza-Richard Commey junior welterweight bout.

Golf Channel and NBC will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Tour Championship golf tournament, while NBC, Peacock and USA Network will offer live coverage of Premier League soccer games throughout the weekend

Fox on Saturday will saddle up for live coverage of the Travers Stakes horse racing event.

On Saturday, ABC will televise the semifinals of the Little League World Series featuring Hawaii-Tennessee and Taiwan-Curacao games. ABC on Sunday will televise the Little League World Series championship game, with ESPN televising the consolation game prior to the final.

CBS will end the last weekend of NFL exhibition games with live coverage of the Detroit Lions-Pittsburgh Steelers game.

This weekend’s lineup of live TV sports events begins in the octagon with ESPN Plus’s UFC 278 pay-per-view fight card featuring a main event welterweight rematch between champion Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.

Usman will look to defend his title against Edwards after defeating him via unanimous decision in 2015. ABC and ESPN will air UFC 278 undercard fights leading up to the PPV event. 

In the boxing ring, DAZN and PPV.com on Saturday afternoon will distribute the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua heavyweight championship rematch fight. Joshua will look to regain three heavyweight title belts after losing to Usyk last September in a major upset. 

ESPN Saturday night will step in the ring with a WBO featherweight title bout between champion Emanuel Navarrete and Eduardo Baez. Showtime on Saturday will also televise a fight card featuring a main event bout between junior welterweights Omar Figueroa Jr. and Sergey Lipinets. 

On the links, NBC and Golf Channel will televise final round coverage of the PGA BMW Championship golf tournament.

USA, Peacock and NBC will televise nine Premier League soccer games over the course of the weekend, while FS1 on Sunday will telecast a MLS doubleheader. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock will televise the Chicago White Sox-Cleveland Guardians game, while ESPN’s telecast will feature an American League East Divisional matchup between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. ABC on Saturday will televise a Little League World Series doubleheader, while ESPN and ABC will air second round coverage of the tournament. ■ 

The weekend’s live sports TV lineup starts on the greens as NBC, Peacock and USA Network offer Saturday and Sunday coverage of The 150th Open Championship, also known as the British Open. While golf legend Tiger Woods did not make the tournament cut, other players such as Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Young will vie this weekend for top honors. 

USA Network will continue its weekend coverage of the Tour de France cycling tournament, while USA and NBC will offer weekend coverage of the USATF World Track and Field Championships =. 

On the soccer field, ABC, FS1 and ESPN on Sunday will air live MLS matches, and ESPN2 will air a UEFA European Women's Championship soccer match between Switzerland and the Netherlands. 

On the WNBA front, CBSSN on Saturday will televise the Chicago Sky-Dallas Wings game, while on Sunday ABC will televise the Las Vegas Aces-Connecticut Sun match and CBSSN will air the Indiana Fever-Seattle Storm contest.

Streaming service Peacock will offer a Sunday afternoon baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays. 

In the squared ring, DAZN on Saturday will offer a pay-per-view event featuring lightweights Ryan Garcia and Javier Fortuna. In the octagon, ABC on Saturday will televise a UFC Fight Night mixed martial arts card featuring a main event bout between featherweights Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriquez. ▪️

The live TV sports lineup for the last weekend in June starts on the baseball diamond with ESPN’s coverage of the College World Series matchup between Mississippi and Oklahoma. 

On the Major League Baseball front, Peacock on Sunday will stream an afternoon baseball game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Atlanta Braves.

In other sports, ESPN on Saturday will telecast a live UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot. 

On the greens, NBC will provide final rounds coverage of the Women’s PGA Championship and CBS along with Golf Channel will televise the Travelers Championship PGA event. 

On Saturday, Fox and NBC will each televise a USFL semifinals playoffs game. On the soccer field, ESPN and ABC on Saturday will each televise MLS games, while both ABC and FS1 will feature a live MLS game telecast on Sunday.

From the race track, CBS Saturday will televise the SRX Series race from South Boston, Va., while USA Network will air the Xfinity Tennessee Lottery 250 race. NBC Sunday will televise the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup race. ■   

The lineup of live TV sports events set for the Father’s Day and Juneteenth holiday weekend starts on the ice with ABC's coverage Saturday of Game two of the NHL Stanley Cup finals between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Avalanche on Wednesday took the opening contest with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory.

Game three of the Stanley Cup Final will air Monday night on ABC. 

The USFL wraps up its inaugural regular season with Saturday telecasts on USA (Philadelphia Stars-New Jersey Generals) and Fox (Birmingham Stallions-Tampa Bay Bandits) and Sunday games on USA (Michigan Panthers-Pittsburgh Maulers) and FS1 (New Orleans Breakers-Houston Gamblers). 

NBC, USA Network and streaming service Peacock will offer weekend coverage of the 2022 US Open PGA golf tournament, while the Golf Channel will feature coverage of the LPGA Meijer Classic tournament.

CBS on Saturday launches its coverage of the Big3 basketball league. The fifth season of the Ice Cube-founded league featuring former NBA stars tips off in Chicago. On Sunday, CBS will air coverage of the WNBA game between the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics, while ESPN will air the Seattle Storm-New York Liberty contest and CBS Sports Network will televise the Minnesota Lynx-Las Vegas Aces game.

ESPN steps into the boxing ring Saturday night with a telecast of the Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. light heavyweight championship unification fight. The sports network will also air a Saturday afternoon UFC main event bout between featherweights Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock’s Sunday afternoon game will feature the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will pit the Chicago White Sox against the Houston Astros.■  

The weekend’s lineup of TV sports events begins on Saturday with the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg in horse racing’s Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will look to return to the winner’s circle after skipping the Preakness Stakes race. 

The NHL Playoffs continue Saturday with Game six of the Eastern Conference finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers. The Lightning will look to close out the Rangers with a win and advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the third straight year.

ABC’s coverage of Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors will air Monday. The Warriors evened the series at two games each with a win Friday night. 

On the baseball diamond, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the first place New York Mets against the Los Angeles Angels, while Peacock Sunday morning will stream the Oakland A’s-Cleveland Guardians game.  

The USFL enters its ninth week with two Saturday games including the New Jersey Generals-Michigan Panthers contest (NBC) and the Houston Gamblers-Birmingham Stallions matchup (USA Network.) On Sunday the Tampa Bay Bandits face the New Orleans Breakers on Fox, while the Philadelphia Stars battle the Pittsburgh Maulers on FS1. 

ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 275 pay-per-view main event between light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka. In the boxing ring, ESPN will televise the Edgar Berlanga-Roamer Alexis Angulo super middleweight fight, while DAZN streams the Jaime Munguia-Jimmy Kelly super middleweight fight card.

On the race track, NBC on Sunday will televise the IndyCar Sonsio Grand Prix, while ESPN airs the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix and FS1 carries the NASCAR Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 race. 

CBS and Golf Channel will hit the links with weekend coverage of  the PGA Canadian Open and the LPGA ShopRite Classic. 

The Indianapolis 500 revs up the lineup of TV sports events airing over the Memorial Day weekend.

NBC on Sunday will televise the 106th running of the venerable auto race from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This year’s event will be highlighted by the appearance of NASCAR great Jimmie Johnson, who will compete in the IndyCar race for the first time.

Also on Sunday, Fox will televise the NASCAR Cup Coca-Cola 600 race, while ESPN airs the Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix race.

In the ring, Showtime on Saturday will distribute a pay-per-view boxing card headlined by the Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero lightweight championship fight. 

Also: Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin Trilogy Bout Set for September; Showtime Laces up for Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero Fight 

On the ice, the NHL Playoffs continue Saturday on ESPN as the Carolina Panthers look to close out the New York Rangers in game 6 of their second-round Eastern Conference Playoff series.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast originates from New York as the Mets host the Philadelphia Phillies. Peacock’s Sunday-morning baseball game features the Cincinnati Reds hosting the San Francisco Giants.

On the links, NBC and the Golf Channel will air final round coverage of the Senior PGA Championship, while CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Charles Schwab Challenge. On the tennis court, NBC and Tennis Channel will provide weekend coverage of the French Open.

ABC on Saturday will offer WNBA coverage as the Las Vegas Aces meet the Chicago Sky, while CBS on Sunday will televise the Phoenix Mercury-Atlanta Dream game.  

The USFL heads into its seventh week with three weekend games, including Saturday’s New Jersey Generals-Tampa Bay Bandits (USA Network) and New Orleans Breakers-Michigan Panthers (FS1) contests, as well as Sunday’s Birmingham Stallions-Pittsburgh Maulers (Fox) game. ■

This weekend’s lineup of TV sports events starts on  the golf course with coverage of the final rounds of the PGA Championship golf tournament.

ESPN and CBS will offer third round coverage on Saturday and championship round coverage on Sunday from Tulsa. Will Zalatoris, Mitro Pereira, Justin Thomas, Rory Mcllroy and Bubba Watson are among the golfers in the hunt for the top prize.

The NBA and NHL continue their respective playoff runs with games on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, ABC Will air game three of the Miami Heat-Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Finals series, while on Sunday, TNT will televise the third game of the Golden State Warriors-Dallas Mavericks Western Conference series.

The NHL Playoffs continue Saturday with second round coverage with TNT’s Colorado Avalanche-St. Louis Blues game on TNT. On Sunday, ESPN will televise the Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay Lightning contest, ESPN will air the Carolina Hurricanes-New York Rangers match and ESPN2 will showcase the Calgary Flames-Edmonton Oilers contest. 

ESPN will travel to the Big Apple for its Sunday Night Baseball telecast between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. 

The USFL enters its sixth week with coverage of the Tampa Bay Bandits-Philadelphia Stars on NBC and the Michigan Panthers–Birmingham Stallions. On Sunday, FS1 will carry the Pittsburgh Maulers-New Orleans Breakers game and Fox will televise the Houston Gamblers-New Jersey Generals contest. 

On Sunday CBS will televise the Professional Bullriding World Finals, while NBC begins its coverage of the French Open tennis tournament. Also Sunday, NBC, CNBC, Golf Channel, SyFy and USA Network will all carry live Premier League contests. ■ 

The TV sports lineup for the last full weekend of April begins on the basketball court as the first round of the NBA playoffs rolls on. On TNT Saturday, the Philadelphia 76’ers will look to eliminate the Toronto Raptors in the series’ fourth game, while the Utah Jazz will look to even up its series at two wins each with the Dallas Mavericks.

On ESPN, the Boston Celtics will look to take a 3-0 lead in its best-of-seven game series with the Brooklyn Nets, while the Memphis Grizzlies will look to take a 3-1 lead on the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Sunday’s action includes ABC-televised games featuring game four of the Milwaukee Bucks-Chicago Bulls and Golden State-Denver series, while TNT will telecast game four of both the Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks and the Phoenix Suns-New Orleans Pelicans series. 

In the ring, ESPN Plus will distribute a Saturday afternoon pay-per-view boxing match between heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and contender Dillon Whyte.

Also: Errol Spence, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez to Step into PPV Boxing Ring

On the track, Fox on Saturday will air the Xfinity Ag-Pro 300 auto race and on Sunday the NASCAR Cup GEICO 500 race. 

The final weekend of the NHL regular season will feature an ABC televised matchup between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins and a Sunday TNT telecast of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers matchup. 

On the soccer field, USA Network, CNBC, NBC and Peacock will feature Premier League games throughout the weekend, while ESPN and FS1 will offer MLS games on Sunday. 

The USFL will enter its second week with three weekend telecasts, including Fox’s Pittsburgh-Philadelphia and FS1’s Birmingham-Houston games on Saturday and NBC’s New Orleans-Tampa Bay game telecast on Sunday. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup will feature the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies. ■

 The TV sports lineup for the Easter holiday weekend starts on the football field as the USFL kicks off its inaugural season on Saturday. 

Fox and NBC on Saturday will simulcast the eight-team league’s first game between the New Jersey Generals and the Birmingham Stallions. 

Sunday’s games include Houston Gamblers-Michigan Panthers (NBC), Philadelphia Stars-New Orleans Breakers (USA) and Tampa Bay Bandits-Pittsburgh Maulers (FS1). The USFL's 10-week season will run through June. 

Also: USFL Kicks Off Inaugural Season: TV Sportsplay 

The NBA Playoffs tip off this weekend with first-round play throughout the weekend. On Saturday ESPN will air the Utah Jazz-Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves-Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors-Philadelphia 76’ers games, while ABC telecasts the Denver Nuggets-Golden State Warriors matchup.

On Sunday, ABC will air the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics game, and TNT will televise the Chicago Bulls-Milwaukee Bucks contest.

Also: NBA Playoff Ads Nearly sold Out as Post Season Launches on ESPN, TNT

On the ice, ABC on Saturday will televise the Minnesota Wild-St. Louis Blues game, and ESPN on Sunday will telecast the Florida Panthers-Detroit Red Wings matchup.

Showtime on Saturday will step into the pay-per-view boxing ring to distribute the Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas welterweight boxing championship fight.

Also: Showtime Punches Up Marketing Efforts for Errol Spence-Yordenis Ugas PPV Boxing Event 

Fox on Sunday hits the race track for the NASCAR Cup City Dirt Race, and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature a matchup between the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres. 

CBS and the Golf Channel will offer final round coverage of  the PGA RBC Heritage golf tournament throughout the weekend, while streaming service Peacock, CNBC and USA Network will televise live Premier League soccer matches. ■ 

Broadcast networks Fox and NBC on Saturday (April 16) will kick off the opening season of the United States Football League with a rare simulcast of the league's inaugural game, as the USFL looks to succeed where other spring football leagues have failed.

The eight-team, Fox Sports-operated league will play a 10-game regular season -- with all games played at Protective Stadium in Birmingham -- and a three-game postseason that will determine the league's champion. 

Fox Sports and NBC Sports will televise every game via the Fox and NBC broadcast channels, USA Network and FS1 cable channels, and the Peacock streaming service.

Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports executive vice president and head of strategy and analytics, spoke to Multichannel News senior content producer R. Thomas Umstead about Fox’s operational and programming strategy for the league, as well as how USFL games will differ from the NFL on the field of play. An edited version of the interview appears below.  

Listen to the rest of Multichannel News’ interview with Mulvihill as part of its TV Sportsplay podcast.

Multichannel News: Why is Fox Sports confident that there is viewer demand for pro football in the spring? 

Mike Mulvihill: I think the foremost thing that gives me confidence is that the appetite for spring football has already been pretty well demonstrated. The numbers that we saw in 2020 for the [WWE-owned] XFL were really encouraging. Had the pandemic not turned our world upside down and forced the XFL to suspend operations we would probably be in our third season of XFL football right now. The numbers that they were doing were more than satisfactory – they were doing a little under 2 million viewers for their games on national networks. That’s a pretty good number in the current environment. I think that gives us a good baseline expectation for what we can do.

MCN: How is Fox looking to market and promote the USFL in a very crowded and noisy sports television marketplace? 

MM: I think we can come at that in a couple ways. One is that we’re very fortunate to have not just our own networks, but to have an incredible partner in NBC Sports. To have a scenario where we're able to leverage our own air time and our own promotional vehicles, and also rely on NBC for their own promotional power and production expertise is a really advantageous situation. There have been very few startups that have launched with the full support and the full power of not just one but two major traditional media companies. Hand in hand with that we've developed a schedule that has something like two-thirds of our games on free, over-the-air television networks at a time where a lot of sports content is going to streaming networks. For the viewer right now it’s a little bit tricky to find the content that they’re looking for – they don’t know what streaming platform to go to or what games are on what cable channels. When you have a lot of games on Fox broadcast or on NBC broadcast – the same networks that they go to to watch the NFL every Sunday – that's a huge advantage.

MCN: From an operational standpoint, does Fox’s control of the USFL increase the prospects for the league’s long-term success?  

MM: You raise a great subject, because when people examine the opportunity for success in a spring football league, what they tend to focus on is consumer demand and whether we can  generate an audience. But I think just as important is how we manage costs and how we keep those costs from getting out of control, which I think has been a big issue for previous spring leagues. We feel really confident that the consumer demand is there. Where we think we have a great business advantage is in the fact that we are an owner of the league, and we are able to use the vast resources of a company of this size to help manage the operations of the USFL.

MCN: How will the USFL differ on the field from the NFL? 

MM: I would tell you that probably 95 % of the USFL rule book is identical to the NFL rule book, because we don't feel a need to reinvent the game. When people tune in, we want this product to be instantly recognizable as professional football –  we don't want it to be excessively gimmicky. Where things get a little bit different is after a scoring play, we've got some innovations that we think are going to help keep games close. One of them is that a team can elect to either kick an extra point or try for a two-point conversion. We're actually going to introduce a three-point conversion as well, because when you have a three-point conversion in play that means that a game with a margin that's as much as 18 points is still a two-possession game. We think that's going to keep fans interested. We've got a mechanism in place where rather than attempt an onside kick, we're going to let a team bring their offense on the field and try to convert a fourth and 12 [play] from scrimmage. The play clock will go from a 40-second clock to a 35-second clock – it’s a subtle distinction, but again it should just result in more offensive plays per game. ■ 

Tiger Woods’ return to PGA tournament competition leads this weekend’s list of televised sports events.

Woods is competing in this weekend’s Masters tournament less than 17 months after suffering severe leg injuries in a horrific car crash. The tournament, which airs live on CBS, is the first major PGA event for Woods since playing in the 2020 Masters tournament.

Also: Tiger Woods' Comeback Gives ESPN Masters Coverage 21% Boost in Viewers

On the diamond, Major League Baseball’s opening weekend showcases five live games on MLB Network, concluding with ESPN’s first Sunday Night Baseball telecast featuring a game between heated rivals the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. 

In the ring, DAZN will feature the International Boxing Federation middleweight title fight between champion Gennady Golovkin and challenger Ryota Murata. Showtime will feature a main event bout between junior middleweights Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora. 

ESPN Plus will enter the octagon Saturday with the UFC 273 pay-per-view event featuring a main event featherweight championship matchup between titleholder Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung.

On the ice, ABC Saturday will air the Washington Capitals-Pittsburgh Penguins NHL game, while on Sunday TNT will air a doubleheader featuring the Boston Bruins-Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators-Penguins game. 

The NBA enters the final weekend of its regular season with Sunday games on ESPN (Indiana Pacers-Brooklyn Nets) and TNT (Boston Bruins-Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors-New Orleans Pelicans.)

USA, NBC and Peacock will feature more than nine Premier League games combined on Saturday and Sunday. ESPN and FS1 will feature Major League Soccer games over the weekend. NBC will feature the IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach auto race. ■    

The leadup to March Madness dominates this weekend’s schedule of live TV sports events as the matchups for both the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments will be set on Sunday.  

March Madness selection weekend begins Saturday with a slew of men’s final round conference tournament games in such high-profile conferences as the Big Ten (CBS) Southeastern (ESPN2), ACC (ESPN2), Big East (Fox) and Pac-12 (Fox). On Sunday, the finals of the Ivy League (ESPN2), Atlantic 10 (CBS), Southeastern (ESPN), ACC (ESPN) and Big Ten (CBS) will all air prior to the live airing of the men's tournament selection show on CBS.  The women's college basketball tournament selection show will air on ESPN. 

In pro hoops, ABC’s Saturday primetime NBA telecast features a matchup between defending league champion Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors. On Sunday, the network will televise the game between cross-town rivals New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. Also on Sunday, ESPN will air the Los Angeles Lakers-Phoenix Suns game. 

On the ice, ABC will air a Saturday afternoon NHL contest between the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Panthers, while TNT on Sunday will televise the Toronto Maple Leafs-Buffalo Sabres game.

In other sports, Fox will rev up Saturday coverage of the NHRA’s Top Fuel All-Star Callout drag racing event, while FS1 telecasts the Xfinity United Rentals 200 auto race. On Sunday Fox will air the NASCAR Cup Ruoff Mortgage 500 race. 

On Sunday, Fox will air the Pro Bowlers Association’s World Championship tournament, while NBC airs the final round of the PGA Players Championship golf tournament. Also, USA Network  will air the closing ceremonies of the Paralympics Games. 

On the soccer field, Peacock will air two Premier League games on Saturday while USA Network on Sunday will air a Premier League doubleheader. Major League Soccer games will air Saturday on Fox and Sunday on FS1. ■ 

The lineup of TV sports events for the first weekend of March starts on the college basketball court as several conference tournaments kick off leading up to the March Madness tournament.

Tournaments from conferences such as the Big South, Sun Belt, Southern Conference, Big South, Missouri Valley, CAA, Atlantic Sun, Northeast, Missouri Valley, Summit League, Ohio Valley, Patriot League and West Coast will take place on Saturday and Sunday to determine which teams will qualify for automatic bids to the Big Dance.

Saturday games featuring top-ranked teams in action on TV include third-ranked Baylor-Iowa State (ESPN2), fourth-ranked Duke-North Carolina (ESPN), fifth-ranked Auburn-South Carolina (SEC Network), sixth-ranked Kansas-Texas (ESPN) seventh-ranked Kentucky-Florida (CBS), and eight-ranked Purdue-Indiana (ESPN). On Sunday, tenth-ranked Wisconsin battles Nebraska on the Big Ten Network.  

On Sunday, several conference finals in women’s college basketball will take place, including the ACC final (ESPN), the Atlantic 10, Big Ten and SEC finals (ESPN2).

On the NBA front, ABC on Saturday will air a primetime matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday afternoon, the network will air an NBA doubleheader lineup featuring the Brooklyn Nets against the Boston Celtics, and the Phoenix Suns battling the Milwaukee Bucks. Two more NBA games will air on ESPN Sunday night, including the Toronto Raptors-Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks-LA. Clippers.

ABC will also air a Saturday afternoon Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers NHL telecast, while on Sunday TNT will air the afternoon Dallas Stars-Minnesota Wild contest.

On the links, NBC and the Golf Channel will offer final round weekend coverage of the PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament, while FS1 will take to the lanes to televise the Pro Bowlers Association's Roth/Holman Doubles tournament. 

NBC and USA Network will offer weekend coverage of the Paralympics from China.

On the soccer field, NBC on Saturday will air the West Ham-Liverpool Premier League contest, while USA Network on Saturday and Sunday will offer live Premier League doubleheader action. On Sunday, ESPN and FS1 will air live MLS games.  

FS1 on Saturday will air the Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas auto race.

In the octagon, ESPN PPV will distribute the UFC 272 fight card featuring a main event bout between welterweights Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. 

The TV sports lineup for the weekend leading into the President’s Day holiday starts on the basketball court with the 2022 NBA All-Star Game from Cleveland. 

On Saturday TNT will provide live coverage of the All-Star Skills Challenge, which features the 3-point contest and the Slam Dunk Contest. On Sunday TNT and TBS will offer alternative live feeds of the All-Star Game.

NBC Sports will wrap up its Winter Olympics coverage on Saturday with coverage of the finals in figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating and women’s curling across networks USA, CNBC and NBC. On Sunday NBC will air the closing ceremonies live at 7 am (ET) and repeat in primetime.  The full schedule of Olympics events can be found here.

In other sports, FS1 hits the auto racing circuit Saturday with live coverage of the ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil 200 race and the Xfinity: Beef. It’s What’s For dinner 300 race.

On the greens, CBS and Golf Channel will provide weekend coverage of the PGA’s Genesis Invitational golf tournament. On the soccer field, USA, NBC and Peacock will offer live Premier League game coverage on Saturday, while USA will offer a Premier League doubleheader on Sunday.

Fox on Sunday will rev up coverage of the NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race, while CBS saddles up to telecast the Professional Bull Riders’ Ticketmaster Invitational championship round. 

ESPN Plus will offer a live Saturday night boxing card headlined by a welterweight matchup between former champions Amir Khan and Kell Brook. The streaming service will also telecast live a UFC Fight Night card featuring a light heavyweight tilt between Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill.

Top-10 college basketball teams in action on national TV nets Saturday include second-ranked Auburn against Florida on ESPN, third-ranked Arizona facing Oregon on ESPN, and fourth-ranked Kentucky battling No. 25 Alabama on CBS. Also on tap are No. 6 Kansas-West Virginia (ESPN), No. 7 Baylor-TCU (ESPN 2), No. 9 Duke-Florida State (ESPN) and No. 10 Villanova-Georgetown (Fox). Sunday’s lineup includes No. 5 Purdue-Rutgers (FS1) and No. 8 Providence-Butler (FS1).

The list of marquee TV sports events for the last weekend in January starts with the NFL Conference Championships.

On Sunday afternoon, CBS will televise the AFC Championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs, while later that evening Fox’s NFL Championship telecast will feature the San Francisco 49’ers and Los Angeles Rams. The winner of each game will meet in Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles on February 6, which will air live on NBC.

On the mixed martial arts front, Showtime on Saturday will televise live the Bellator 273 fight card featuring a main event heavyweight championship fight between Ryan Bader and Valentin Moldavsky.

ABC on Saturday will air a live primetime NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors, while the NHL Network on Sunday will telecast the Seattle Kraken-New York Rangers hockey contest. 

ESPN on Saturday and Sunday morning will hit the tennis court for live coverage of the Australian Open women's and men's finals, respectively,  while on the auto racing track USA and NBC will offer weekend coverage of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. On Saturday, FS1 will offer live coverage of the Professional Bowlers Tour’s Players Championship Finals. 

The weekend college basketball lineup features several top ten-ranked teams playing on Saturday, including No. 1 Auburn hosting Oklahoma on ESPN and No. 3 Arizona against Arizona State on CBS. ESPN will also televise fourth-ranked Baylor against Alabama and fifth-ranked Kansas versus 12th-ranked Kentucky. ESPN2 will air seventh-ranked Houston’s game against UCF. On Sunday, CBS carries No. 6 Purdue against No. 16 Ohio State.

The TV sports landscape for penultimate weekend in January once again starts on the football field as the NFL launches its Divisional Playoffs round. 

On Saturday, CBS will televise an afternoon AFC playoff matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans, while Fox will air in primetime the NFC’s San Francisco 49’ers-Green Bay Packers playoffs contest. 

On Sunday, NBC will air the Los Angeles Rams-Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFC game, while CBS will telecast the Buffalo Bills-Kansas City Chiefs AFC game.

In the ring, Showtime will air a WBC featherweight title bout between champion Gary Russell Jr. and Mark Magsayo. From the octagon, ESPN Plus will distribute the UFC 270 pay-per-view event featuring the heavyweight title bout between champions Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.

ESPN will continue its live Australian Open coverage beginning Saturday and Sunday morning, while the Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the LPGA Tournament of Champions and the PGA American Express golf tournaments.

NBC will air an afternoon Premier League game between Manchester City and Southampton, while USA Network will air Premier League games on Saturday and Sunday.   

The Pro Bowlers Association and Fox Sports kick off the PBA Tour’s 2022 season on Saturday and Sunday with live, regional round coverage of the PBA Players Championship on FS1.

Also:  PBA's Tom Clark Rolls out Pro Bowlers Association's Media Plans for Upcoming Season (podcast)

The men’s college basketball schedule this weekend finds several top-ranked teams in action on national TV networks. On Saturday, second-ranked Auburn will take on 12th-ranked Kentucky on CBS, while fifth-ranked Baylor will battle Oklahoma on the Big Ten Network. Other games include No. 7 Kansas-Kansas State (Big 12 Network) and No. 10 Houston-East Carolina (ESPN 2).

On Sunday, Pac-12 Network will televise third-ranked Arizona’s matchup against California, and BTN will air the game between fourth-ranked Purdue and Northwestern.  

The Martin Luther King holiday weekend’s list of top live TV sports offerings starts on the gridiron with NFL playoff games.

On Sunday NFC Wildcard playoff games launch with telecasts on Fox (Philadelphia Eagles-Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and CBS/Nickelodeon (San Francisco 49ers-Dallas Cowboys). NBC will also offer a Sunday Night Football AFC playoffs matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs.

On Monday night, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will simulcast the NFC Wild Card Playoff contest between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. 

Also on Monday, the NBA will offer its annual Martin Luther King Day lineup of nationally-televised games, including NBA TV’s Charlotte Hornets-New York Knicks and Utah Jazz-Los Angeles Lakers games and TNT’s Chicago Bulls-Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks-Atlanta Hawks contests.

CBS and CBSSN on Sunday will offer the Professional Bull Riders' Tractor Supply invitational event. 

ESPN will continue its live coverage of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Sunday and Monday.■ 

The Thanksgiving weekend lineup of live TV sports events starts Saturday on the gridiron as week 13 of the college football season features several high-profile games among NCAA-ranked teams, highlighted by second-ranked Ohio State against fifth-ranked Michigan on Fox. 

Other games featuring top 10-ranked teams include top-ranked Georgia against Georgia Tech on ABC, third-ranked Alabama against Auburn (CBS), sixth-ranked Notre Dame at Stanford (Fox), seventh-ranked Oklahoma State against 10th-ranked Oklahoma (ABC), and eighth-ranked Baylor and Texas Tech (FS1).

Week 12 of the NFL season features regional coverage on Fox and CBS, followed by an NBC Sunday Night Football contest between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Also on Sunday, ESPN2 and ESPNews will feature live coverage of Canadian Football League playoffs games.

In the ring Showtime will televise the super bantamweight fight between champion Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton Jr. 

NBCSN, USA Network and NBC will offer live Premier League soccer games on Saturday, while ABC and ESPN will offer Major League Soccer coverage on Sunday over the weekend. ■ 

The first weekend of November’s list of live TV sports events begins in the boxing ring Saturday as super middleweight boxing champions Canelo Alverez and Caleb Plant battle in a championship unification pay-per-view boxing event. Showtime will distribute the fight, which will retail at a suggested price of $79.99.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 268 pay-per-view mixed martial arts fight card featuring the Kamaru Usman-Colby Covington main event welterweight championship bout.

On the football field, eight of the top 10-rated college football teams will play Saturday on national television, beginning with top-ranked Georgia facing Missouri on ESPN. Second-ranked Cincinnati meets Tulsa on ESPN2, while third-ranked Alabama battles LSU on ESPN. The rest of the schedule features No. 5 Michigan State-Purdue (ABC), No. 6 Ohio State-Nebraska (Fox), No. 7 Oregon-Washington (ABC), No. 8 Notre Dame-Navy (NBC), No. 9 Michigan-Indiana (Fox) and No. 10 Wake Forest-North Carolina (ABC). 

On Sunday night, NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football telecast will feature the Tennessee Titans against the Los Angeles Rams.

The NASCAR season will conclude this weekend with Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship on NBCSN and Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship on NBC. The broadcast network will also feature on Sunday coverage of motorcycle racing’s FIM MotoGP race.

ESPN2 Sunday morning will offer live coverage of the New York City Marathon. On the soccer field, NBCSN on Saturday will offer Premier League doubleheader coverage on Saturday and Sunday, while on Sunday ESPN and FS1 offer live Major League Soccer game coverage.

Read Also: Live Sports Content Helps Networks Score on October Ratings Charts 

Live sports programming scored big ratings numbers for several cable networks in October, as nearly half of the month‘s top 10 most-watched networks in primetime offered multiple high-profile live sports events. 

ESPN was primetime‘s most-watched cable network from Sept. 27 to Oct. 31, averaging 2.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Leading the way was Monday Night Football, which averaged more than 13.5 million viewers during the period, said Nielsen. Coverage of Major League Baseball‘s postseason, college football and the new National Basketball Association and National Hockey League seasons also contributed to the network’s primetime win. 

TBS finished third for the month with 2 million viewers on the strength of its postseason baseball coverage. Its MLB playoff games averaged 4.4 million viewers, including an average of 5.2 million viewers for its Los Angeles Dodgers-Atlanta Braves National League Championship Series coverage, reported Sports Media Watch. 

FS1 pulled into sixth place with 921,000 viewers, largely on its coverage of baseball‘s American League playoffs as well as its college football telecasts, while NFL Network finished 10th with 683,000 viewers, buoyed by Thursday Night Football.

With all four networks posting year-to-year gains in October, sports analyst Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Sports, said viewers are back to consuming live sports programming in big numbers. “With the league schedules back to where they’re supposed to be seasonally, with no presidential election to contend with and with sports telecasts [enhanced by] featuring audiences in the stands, it all adds up to strong ratings performances for live sports programming,” he said. 

Fox News Channel finished second in the primetime race for the month with 2.3 million viewers, while MSNBC finished fourth with 1.2 million viewers. Hallmark Channel was fifth with 926,000 watchers, HGTV claimed the seventh slot with 907,000 viewers, TLC was eighth with 803,000 viewers and INSP came in ninth with 775,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.

On the total-day front, Fox News was first with 1.4 million viewers, followed by ESPN (892,000 viewers), MSNBC (680,000), TBS (627,000) and Hallmark Channel (547,000), Nielsen said. 

Live sports programming continued to influence the primetime ratings charts as baseball-infused TBS and football-driven ESPN came out on top for the second week in a row.

TBS finished first among all cable networks during the week of Oct. 18 to Oct. 24, averaging 3.1 million viewers on the strength of its coverage of baseball’s National League Championship Series. TBS’ Oct. 23 Los Angeles Dodgers-Atlanta Braves Game 6 telecast averaged nearly 7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. 

ESPN finished second for the week with 3 million viewers, led by its Oct. 18 Buffalo Bills-Tennessee Titans Monday Night Football telecast, which drew 12.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

National sports network FS1 pulled up to fourth place on the primetime charts after drawing 5.8 million viewers for its coverage of Game 6 of the Boston Red Sox-Houston Astros American League Championship Series on Oct. 22, said Nielsen.

Fox News finished third for the week with 2.3 million viewers, with MSNBC finishing fifth with 1.2 million viewers.

Hallmark Channel (1.1 million viewers), TNT (926,000), HGTV (887,000), TLC (786,000) and INSP (748,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.

Fox News continued its impressive run atop the total day charts, winning for the 36th consecutive week. ESPN (960,000 viewers), TBS (831,000), MSNBC (696,000) and the Hallmark Channel (605,000) finished behind the Fox News, according to Nielsen. 

TBS hit a primetime ratings home run last week, backed by its Major League Baseball playoffs coverage.

TBS averaged 3.1 million viewers during the week of Oct. 11 to Oct. 17 to top all cable networks, according to Nielsen. The network was led by its baseball post-season coverage, led by its Oct. 14 Game 5 Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants National League Division Series telecast, which drew 6.5 million viewers, said Nielsen. 

ESPN continued its strong Fall ratings run, finishing second in primetime with 2.6 million viewers on the strength of the more than 11 million viewers who tuned into its Oct. 11 Baltimore Ravens-Los Angeles Chargers Monday Night Football telecast. 

Fox News finished third with 2.3 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 1.2 million viewers and HGTV’s 924,000 watchers. Rounding out the top 10 most watched cable networks in primetime were TLC (792,000 viewers), INSP (753,000), Hallmark Channel (713,000), Fox Sports 1 (703,000) and CNN (661,000).

On the total day front, Fox News extended its winning streak to 34 weeks, averaging 1.3 million viewers. TBS finished second with 930,000 viewers, followed by ESPN (897,000 viewers), MSNBC (676,000) and HGTV (537,000), said Nielsen.

The lineup of live TV sports events happening this week starts in the squared ring Saturday night as ESPN and Fox Sports distribute via pay-per-view the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder heavyweight championship fight.

The event marks the third fight between the two heavyweight champions, with Fury defeating Wilder in their second fight in 2020 and both boxers fighting to a draw in 2018. 

Action from Major League Baseball’s Divisional playoffs continue on Saturday with TBS airing game two of the Atlanta Hawks-Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants series. MLB Network on Sunday will carry Game 3 of the Tampa Bay Rays- Boston Red Sox series, while FS1 will carry Game 3 of the Houston Astros-Chicago White Sox matchup.

NBC on Sunday will provide coverage of the NASCAR Cup Bank of America Roval 400 race while ESPN will air the Formula One Turkish Grand Prix race. 

The NFL will continue its week five schedule with Sunday afternoon regional games on Fox and CBS and a NBC Sunday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

Week six of the college football season kicks off Saturday with seven of the top 10 teams in action on national television. Top-ranked Alabama looks to continue its undefeated season against Texas A&M on CBS, while No. 2 Georgia faces No. 18 Auburn, also on CBS. No.3 Iowa takes on No. 4 Penn State in a major Big Ten Conference matchup on Fox, while No. 6 Oklahoma battles No. 21 Texas on ABC. Other games include no. 7 Ohio State-Maryland (Fox), No. 9 Michigan-Nebraska (ABC) and No. 10 BYU-Boise State (ABC).