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. 

FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage and the launch of the new Premier League season highlight this weekend’s list of live Tv sports telecasts.

The Women’s World Cup continues Saturday on Fox with quarter-final round action featuring the Australia-France and England-Colombia matches. The winners will join Sweden and Spain in the semi-final round next weekend. 

The 2023-24 Premiere League season kicks off with NBC, USA and Peacock offering eight live games throughout the weekend. 

In the boxing ring, ESPN on Saturday will televise the junior welterweight championship bout between titleholder Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez, while DAZN distributes the heavyweight fight between former champion Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius. Also Saturday, Showtime will air the Emmanuel Rodriguez-Melvin Lopez bantamweight championship fight. 

In the octagon, ESPN will televise a UFC Fight Night card headlined by the Vincente Luque-Rafael Dos Anjos bout. 

On the track, USA on Saturday will televise the IndyCar Gallagher Grand Prix and the Xfinity Pennzoil 150 races. On Sunday, NBC will televise the NASCAR Cup Verizon 200 at the Brickyard race. 

On the links, CBS and the Golf Channel will provide weekend coverage of the PGA FedEx St. Jude Championship tournament, while USA offers coverage of the Women’s British Open tournament.  

On the basketball court, ESPN on Sunday will televise the WNBA matchup between the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever, while CBS offers week eight action from the Big3 league. 

On the baseball field, Peacock on Sunday will stream the Detroit Tigers-Boston Red Sox game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball game features National League East rivals Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

This weekend's lineup of live TV sports events begins on the ice Saturday with Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Vegas Golden Knights will look to take a commanding three games-to-one lead over the Florida Panthers in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals on TNT. After taking a two games-to-none lead, the Golden Knights lost to the Panthers in overtime this past Thursday.  

On the racetrack, Fox on Saturday will air the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. On the tennis court, NBC Saturday morning will air the French Open women’s finals match between top-ranked Iga Swiatek and Karolina Muchova. On Sunday morning NBC will air the French Open men’s finals. 

In the boxing ring, ESPN will televise a junior welterweight title fight between Teofimo Lopez and WBO champion Josh Taylor. Also Saturday DAZN will stream an IBF flyweight championship bout between champion Sunny Edwards and Andres Campos.

In the octagon, ESPN PPV will distribute the UFC 289 event featuring a main event bout between women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Irene Aldana.  

The USFL will launch week nine of its regular-season on Saturday with the Michigan Panthers-Pittsburgh Maulers game on Fox and the New Orleans Breakers-Memphis Showboats on NBC. On Sunday, NBC will air the Birmingham Stallions-Houston Gamblers game, while Fox will televise the Philadelphia Stars-New Jersey Generals contest.

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will offer final round weekend coverage of the Canadian Tour PGA Open. 

Also: The CW’s LIV Golf Lineup Will Continue Amidst LIV-PGA Merger

On Sunday Fox will televise the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup race. On the baseball diamond, Peacock will stream the Arizona Diamondbacks-Detroit Tigers game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature a game between longtime American League rivals the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. 

The live TV sports calendar for the first weekend in June starts on the ice as TNT drops the puck on the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. 

TNT, along with TBS and truTV, will carry Game One of the Florida Panthers-Vegas Golden Knights NHL Stanley Cup series. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned networks will air every game of the NHL finals after ABC aired last year’s Colorado Avalanche-Tampa Bay Lightening Stanley Cup series.

Also: TNT Hopes Its First Stanley Cup Finals Will Maintain Hockey’s Ratings Momentum

The NBA Finals continue on ABC Sunday night as the Miami Heat look to even up its series with the Denver Nuggets after losing the first game on Thursday. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock Sunday morning will stream the St. Louis Cardinals-Pittsburgh Pirates game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature long-time interleague rivals the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Week eight of the USFL Football league begins Saturday with coverage of the Houston Gamblers-Pittsburgh Maulers game on USA Network and the Philadelphia Stars-Birmingham Stallions on NBC. Sunday’s action includes Fox’s telecasts of the Memphis Showboats-New Jersey Generals and Michigan Panthers-New Orleans Breakers games. 

On the links, CBS and the Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the final rounds of PGA Memorial golf tournament, while on the tennis court NBC and Tennis Channel will offer live coverage of the French Open.

In the octagon, ESPN on Saturday will televise a UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event bout between flyweights Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi.  

The Mother’s Day weekend lineup of live tv sports action begins on the pro football field as ABC airs in primetime the upstart XFL pro football league’s Championship game featuring the Arlington Renegades and the D.C. Defenders. 

The second round of the NBA Playoffs winds down as the Philadelphia 76’ers and the Boston Celtics meet Saturday on ABC in a pivotal Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. 

On the ice, ESPN on Saturday will air a Game 6 NHL Playoffs contest featuring the Dallas Stars, who will look to close out its second round series against Seattle Kraken. On Sunday ESPN will air Game 6 of the Edmonton Oilers-Vegas Golden Knights series, with the Golden Knights up three games to two.

On the racetrack, NBC on Saturday will televise the GMR Grand Prix IndyCar Series race and on Sunday will air the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Course de Monterey race. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock on Sunday morning will stream the L.A. Angels-Cleveland Guardians game, while ESPN will televise the St. Louis Cardinals-Boston Red Sox game as part of its Sunday Night Baseball telecast. 

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will offer final round weekend coverage of the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic PGA tournament, while the CW offers live Saturday and Sunday coverage of the LIV golf tournament in Tulsa. 

Both ESPN and Showtime will feature boxing cards Saturday night, with ESPN offering the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Steven Butler WBO middleweight title fight and Showtime airing the Rolando Romero-Ismael Barroso WBA interim junior welterweight title bout. In the octagon, ABC will air a UFC heavyweight main event bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Jailton Almeida. 

Fox on Sunday will air final round coverage of the Professional Bowlers Association’s Players Championship. On the soccer field, USA and Peacock will air nine Premier League games throughout the weekend. 

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. 

This weekend’s full lineup of top live TV sports action begins on the soccer field as Major League Soccer launches its 28th season exclusively on Fox and FS1.

Fox will telecast the New York City FC-Nashville SC MLS match on Saturday, while FS1 will air the Seattle Sounders FC-Colorado Rapids game. The games officially launch Fox Sports’s four-year linear TV deal with MLS.

On the NBA court, ABC will air a Saturday primetime matchup between Eastern Conference rivals the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. On Sunday ABC will air an afternoon NBA doubleheader featuring the Phoenix Suns-Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers-Dallas Mavericks contests, while ESPN’s primetime doubleheader includes the Minnesota Timberwolves-Golden State Warriors and L.A. Clippers-Denver Nuggets games. 

Week two of pro-football league the XFL will launch Saturday with the D.C-Vegas game on FX, while ESPN on Sunday will air the San Antonio-Orlando game and ESPN2 will offer the Arlington-Houston contest.

In the ring, YouTube star Jake Paul on Sunday will look to advance his boxing career when he faces Tommy Fury in the main event of an ESPN Plus pay-per-view boxing card on Sunday. On Saturday, Showtime will telecast a live fight card headlined by the junior welterweight championship fight between Subriel Matias and Jeremias Ponce.

The men’s college basketball lineup begins with top-ranked Houston traveling to face the Pirates of East Carolina on ESPN2, second-ranked Alabama taking on Arkansas on ESPN2, third-ranked Kansas taking on West Virginia on ESPN and fifth-ranked Purdue hosting No. 17 Indiana on Fox. On Sunday, fourth-ranked UCLA plays Colorado on CBS. 

Saturday’s women’s college basketball schedule of top-ranked teams includes fourth-ranked UConn playing DePaul on Fox. On Sunday, top-ranked South Carolina hosts Georgia on ESPN2, second-ranked Indiana battles No.6 Iowa on ESPN, and fifth-ranked LSU meets Mississippi State on the SEC Network. 

On the links, NBC and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Honda Classic golf tournament, while Fox will continue its NASCAR coverage with the Sunday telecast of the Pala Casino 400 race. 

On the ice, ABC on Saturday afternoon will telecast the N.Y. Rangers-Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins-St. Louis Blues NHL games. ■

The lineup of live TV sports events taking place over the President’s Day weekend starts on the hardwood with TNT’s coverage of the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities.

On Saturday TNT will offer primetime coverage of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night events, including the skills, three-point and slam dunk contests. On Sunday night TNT and TBS will provide live coverage of the annual NBA All-Star Game, featuring the league's recently crowned all-time leading scorer LeBron James.  

On the race track, Fox will feature Sunday afternoon coverage of NASCAR’s Daytona 500 auto racing event. On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Genesis Invitational golf tournament. 

The men’s college basketball lineup of top-ranked teams playing on Saturday includes top-ranked Alabama meeting Georgia on the SEC Network, fourth-ranked UCLA battling California on the Pac-12 Network and fifth-ranked Kansas taking on ninth-ranked Baylor on ESPN. On Sunday, second-ranked Houston plays Memphis on ESPN, while third-ranked Purdue meets Ohio State on CBS.

Several of the top women’s college basketball teams play on Sunday, including top-ranked South Carolina meeting Ole Miss on SEC Network, second-ranked Indiana battling Purdue on BTN, and fifth-ranked LSU traveling to Florida on SEC Network.  On Monday, third-ranked Stanford plays No. 16 UCLA on ESPN2.

On the ice, ABC will televise the NHL's Stadium Series outdoor game between the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes from Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

In the boxing ring, PPV.com on Saturday will distribute the BLK Prime-produced fight between former four-division champion Adrien Broner and Michael Williams Jr., while DAZN will distribute the WBA featherweight title bout between champion Leigh Wood and challenger Mauricio Lara.  

ESPN and ABC on Saturday will kickoff the inaugural season of the upstart XFL pro football league. ABC will offer the Vegas Vipers-Arlington Renegades game while ESPN and FX will simulcast the primetime matchup between the Orlando Guardians and the Houston Roughnecks. 

Also: Disney Looking to Expand XFL Sponsor Roster as Season Kicks Off

On Sunday, XFL game telecasts include the St. Louis Battlehawks-San Antonio Brahmas contest on ABC and the Seattle Sea Dragons-D.C. Defenders matchup on ESPN.■ 

This weekend's busy, live TV sports lineup starts on the soccer field with World Cup quarterfinals round action.

Fox on Saturday will televise live World Cup games between Morocco and Portugal, along with England versus France. The winners from the two games will meet in a December 14 semifinal matchup, with that winner qualifying for the World Cup finals against the winner of the December 13 semifinal game.

In the boxing ring, welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Saturday will step into the ring against David Avanesyan in a pay-per-view fight. Also on PPV, retired eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao will fight an exhibition bout against martial arts fighter DK Yoo.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will stream the Teofimo Lopez-Sandor Martin fight, while DAZN will carry the Josh Warrington-Luis Alberto Lopez featherweight championship bout.

Also: Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford Fights Round Out 2022 PPV Boxing Card

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute via PPV the UFC 282 mixed martial arts fight card featuring a main event light heavyweight championship bout between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.

ABC will air a Saturday primetime matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals won by the Warriors.

On the links, TNT on Saturday will air its golf exhibition event The Match, featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy facing Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. NBC and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA’s QBE Shootout event.

Also: TNT Turns Primetime Spotlight on 'The Match' Golf Event

Week 14 of the NFL season picks up Sunday with regional action on CBS and Fox, followed by NBC’s primetime Sunday Night Football contest between the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. ■

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. ■ 

This weekend’s lineup of live TV sports action starts on the baseball diamond as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox continue their longtime rivalry.

On Saturday night Fox will televise the Yankees-Red Sox game from Fenway Park, while ESPN on Sunday will air the rubber game of the series as part of its Sunday Night Baseball presentation.

Also from the baseball diamond, Peacock on Sunday will stream the San Diego Padres-Washington Nationals game.

In the boxing ring, ESPN on Saturday will televise the Teofimo Lopez-Pedro Campa junior welterweight fight, while in the octagon ESPN will air the Marlon Vera-Dominick Cruz UFC bantamweight fight.

On the links NBC and Golf Channel will offer final round coverage of the PGA St. Jude Championship golf championship, while on the soccer field USA, NBC and Peacock will air a combined nine Premier League games over the weekend.

ABC will offer a Sunday WNBA doubleheader telecast featuring the Minnesota Lynx-Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm-Las Vegas Aces games. ■  

This weekend’s live TV Sports lineup stars on the baseball diamond as Major League Baseball enters the first weekend after its annual All-Star break with FS1’s Saturday night telecast of the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s matchup. 

On Sunday, Peacock’s afternoon baseball game will pit the Chicago Cubs against the Philadelphia Phillies, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets. 

On the racetrack, NBC on Saturday will televise the IndyCar Hy-VeeDeels.com 250 race and on Sunday will air the IndyCar Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300. USA Network on Saturday will televise the Xfinity Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 race and on Sunday will air the NASCAR Cup M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 race on Sunday.

USA will feature coverage of the final stages of the Tour de France on Saturday and Sunday, while NBC will offer Saturday coverage of the Track & Field World Championships.

On the links, NBC and Golf Channel will air final round coverage of the Senior British Open, while CBS and Golf Channel will provide weekend coverage of the PGA 3M Open tournament. 

NBA TV will offer WNBA doubleheader game telecasts on Saturday and Sunday, while FS1 will air a Sunday MLS game between the Atlanta United and LA Galaxy.■ 

NBC will be blanketing its platforms with over 200 hours of golf coverage of the 150th Open Championship — commonly known stateside as the British Open — from St. Andrews this week, including plenty of new media coverage of the Old Course.

Coverage kicks off on Golf Channel’s Golf Central with a Celebration of Champions four-hole event Monday (July 11) featuring Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, among many others, including women's Open champion Anna Nordqvist and disabled Open winner Kipp Poppert.

If past is prologue, a strong showing by Woods will translate to strong ratings on the weekend.

Live coverage of the first two days of the actual tournament — Thursday, July 14, and Friday, July 15 — will be shared by USA Network and streaming service Peacock.

The final two days will be shared by USA, Peacock and NBC.

The broadcast/cable/streaming coverage team comprises host Mike Tirico; play-by-play Dan Hicks, Tirico and Terry Gannon; analysts Paul Azinger, Justin Leonard (1997 Open champion); tower coverage: David Feherty, Gary Koch, Peter Jacobson, Steve Sands, Curt Byrum, Tom Abbott; on-course coverage: Notah Begay III, John Wood, Mark Rolfing, Karen Strupples; interviews: Karyn Tappen, Cara Banks, Todd Lewis, and essays provided by Jimmy Roberts. ■

This weekend’s list of live TV sports events starts on the tennis court with the final round of the Wimbledon tennis tournament on ESPN. On Saturday Ons Jabeur will face Elena Rybakina in the women’s finals, while on Sunday Nick Kyrgios will battle top-seeded Novak Djokovic for the men’s title. 

ABC will replay the women’s finals match on Saturday afternoon and the men’s finals event on Sunday afternoon. 

On the racetrack, FS1 on Saturday will televise the NASCAR Truck O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 race, while USA Network offers up coverage of the Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 250 race. On Sunday ESPN will televise the Formula One Australian Grand Prix while USA televises the NASCAR Cup Quaker State 400. 

On the links, NBC will televise the final rounds of the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, while CBS and the Golf Channel will provide weekend coverage of the DP World Scottish Open golf tournament. 

Peacock’s Sunday afternoon baseball game features the Los Angeles Angels against the Baltimore Orioles while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will pit the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox.

In the boxing ring, Showtime on Saturday will televise the Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas World Boxing Council featherweight title fight. In the octagon, ESPN will carry Saturday’s Brian Ortega-Yair Rodriguez featherweight match.■  

The July 4 holiday weekend slate of live TV sports events begins on the football field as the upstart USFL concludes its inaugural season with its Championship Game between the Birmingham Stallions and Philadelphia Stars.

Also on tap for the weekend is WNBA action as ESPN televises the Phoenix Mercury-Chicago Sky contest on Saturday as well as Sunday’s Washington Mystics-Connecticut Sun contest. Also on Sunday, NBA TV will air the Seattle Storm-Atlanta Dream game and CBSSN will televise the New York Liberty-Los Angeles Sparks game.

On the links, CBS and the Golf Channel will offer coverage of the final rounds of the John Deere Classic PGA tournament.

On the racetrack, NBC Sunday will air the Honda Indy 200 IndyCar Series race, while USA Network will televise the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 race and ESPN covers the British Grand Prix Formula One race.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 276 pay-per-view bout between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.

ESPN will continue its Wimbledon tennis tournament coverage throughout the three-day holiday weekend. On Monday, ESPNNews will telecast live the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Peacock’s Sunday afternoon baseball game will feature the Kansas City Royals against the Detroit Tigers, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup pits the St. Louis Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies.

NBC, Peacock and USA Network on Saturday will offer live coverage of the Tour de France cycling event, with USA and Peacock offering third-round coverage on Sunday.

MLB Network will offer a full day of Independence Day baseball games featuring five regional telecasts scheduled to begin as early as 11 a.m., according to the network. ■

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. 

TV golf commentator Charlie Rymer on June 5 launched the second season of his ESPN2 interview show, The Charlie Rymer Golf Show, even as, behind the scenes, the former pro was taking his best swings against colon cancer.

Rymer has taped more than half of the season’s 14 episodes while receiving chemotherapy treatments to combat stage-three colon cancer, which he said was detected after a regularly-scheduled colonoscopy.

“I never was sick, never had any symptoms and it doesn’t run in the family, so it was a real surprise,” Rymer told Multichannel News. 

The former CBS, ABC and Golf Channel on-air personality earlier this year had a portion of his colon surgically removed before beginning his chemotherapy stint. He said that the doctors believe they removed all the cancer with the surgery but “as insurance” they decided he should get the chemotherapy treatments.

Rymer, who played on the PGA Tour and the Nike Tour through most of the 1990s, isn’t waiting until his chemo treatments end in July to remain productive. He plans to finish taping the remainder of the season while continuing his chemotherapy treatments. 

The second season of the series, produced by WorkShop Content Studios in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has Rymer giving golf tips and interviewing such celebrities as Ray Romano and golf icons Dustin Johnson and Gary Player, as well as former football star Sterling Sharpe and country musician Jamie Johnson. Rymer also says he addresses his colon cancer prognosis in an episode with former NFL player Vince Papale.

“Normally, when I have a guest and we’re on a golf course, I’ll hit some golf shots or work in a golf tip, but in quite a few of the early episodes we weren’t able to do that because I couldn’t swing a golf club,” he said. “But we have quite a few more to tape, so I’m thinking moving forward I’ll definitely be able to swing.”

Working on the series has helped mitigate the often debilitating effects of chemotherapy, Rymer said. “If you stay busy you don’t realize you feel so bad, but I’ve had a few days where I’ve had to go and curl up in bed,” he said. “I think staying busy is definitely a blessing.”   

Going forward, Rymer said he will look for ways to bring more awareness to colon cancer — the third most common cancer diagnosed in the United States according to the American Cancer Society — and the importance of getting a colonoscopy. 

“So many men just don’t want to do it, but it's not that bad,” he said. “I’m fully convinced that if I had waited until I actually had symptoms my story would have unfolded very differently.” 

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. ■ 

This weekend’s lineup of TV sports events starts on the ice as the first round of the NHL playoffs commences with five, game-seven matchups over the weekend. 

ESPN will televise the Saturday afternoon contest between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes as well a late night game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. TNT will air a primetime matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Sunday, NHL Playoff game-seven matchups include the Dallas Stars battling the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins facing the New York Rangers. 

On the basketball court, the NBA Playoffs will conclude its second round with two,  game-seven matchups on Sunday. The Milwaukee Bucks will travel to Boston to meet the Celtics in the final game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on ABC, while the Phoenix Suns will host the Dallas Mavericks in a Western Conference semifinal series matchup on TNT. 

In the boxing ring, Showtime will televise a Saturday night boxing card headlined by the Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano rematch junior middleweight unification championship bout. Also, FITE TV will distribute the Sergey Kovalev-Tervel Pulev cruiserweight bout. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast pits the San Francisco Giants against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

CBS and Golf Channel will feature final round weekend coverage from the LPGA’s Founders Cup and the PGA’s Byron Nelson golf tournaments, while USA Network and Peacock will air multiple Premier League games on Sunday.

NBC on Saturday afternoon will televise the IndyCar GMR Grand Prix auto race. On Sunday, FS1 will air the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 race. ■ 

The weekend TV sports lineup for the Mother’s Day holiday weekend starts on the pro basketball court with second round coverage of the NBA Playoffs. 

On Saturday, ABC will offer game three coverage of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks series, followed by primetime coverage of the Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors game three contest. 

On Sunday, ESPN will televise game four of the Phoenix Suns-Dallas Mavericks series, followed by TNT game four coverage of the Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76’ers series. 

The WNBA opens the first weekend of its 2022 regular season with two matchups on Saturday – ESPN’s Connecticut Sun-New York Liberty and CBSSN’s Atlanta Dream-Dallas Wings telecasts – as well as a Sunday ESPN doubleheader featuring the Washington Mystics-Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm-Las Vegas Aces games.

On Saturday, the NHL playoffs continue with first round coverage of the Florida Panthers-Washington Capitals series on ESPN, followed by a TNT tripleheader that includes the Colorado Avalanche-Nashville Predators, NY Rangers-Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames-Dallas Stars series. 

NBC on Saturday will televise live the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs in Louisville. Also Saturday, the National Women’s Soccer League will hold its Challenge Cup final between the Washington Spirit and the North Carolina Courage, which will air live on CBS. 

In the octagon, ESPN Plus will stream the UFC 274 pay-per-view fight card featuring the main event match between lightweights Charles Oliveria and Justin Gaethje. In the ring, DAZN and PPV.com will offer the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight championship fight. 

Also: Digital Sportsplay: In Demand Punches Up Streaming Pay-Per-View Service

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will televise the final rounds of the PGA Wells Fargo Championship pro golf event. On the bowling lanes, Fox on Sunday will televise the semifinal round of the KIA PBA Playoffs.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast features National League rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs. ■ 

This weekend’s schedule of TV sports events begins on the basketball court with second round coverage of the NBA Playoffs.

ABC on Sunday will televise Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics. Milwaukee enters the second round having defeated the Chicago Bulls four games to one, while Boston enters the series having swept the Brooklyn Nets.

In other sports, ESPN on Sunday will travel to New York for its Sunday Night Baseball telecast featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.

ESPN will step into the boxing ring Saturday with a primetime fight card featuring junior lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez. Also Saturday, DAZN will televise the women's lightweight unification bout between champion Katie Taylor and contender Amanda Serrano.

In the octagon, ESPN on Saturday will televise a UFC Fight Night main event bout featuring bantamweights Rob Font and Marlon Vera.

In pro football, ESPN and ABC will continue its coverage of the NFL Draft, while the USFL enters its third week with two games on Fox, including the Tampa Bay-Houston and Pittsburgh-Michigan matchups. On Sunday, USA Network will televise the Birmingham-New Orleans game.

The Golf Channel and CBS will offer final round coverage of the PGA Mexico Open pro golf tournament. On the auto racing track, NBC on Sunday will televise the IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

On the soccer field, USA, CNBC, NBC and Peacock will all feature Premier League games throughout the weekend.

 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. ■ 

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 4-10, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The Masters, one of the PGA Tour’s premier events, drives to the top spot in this week’s watch-time ranking. From April 4-10, the Masters accounted for 3.39% of TV minutes watched — more than three times the next most-watched program (the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament).

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• March Madness closed out strong, as the national title game between Kansas and North Carolina netted 0.98% of the week’s watch-time.
• Along with the Masters itself, coverage from the tournament was also a major draw for viewers, with Golf Channel’s Live From the Masters finishing No. 3 by minutes watched.
• Despite the regular season only starting on Thursday, Major League Baseball still caught 0.82% of the week’s watch-time (No. 7 overall).
• TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days was another newcomer to our rankings this week, picking up 0.41% of minutes watched.

Masters coverage was a boost to CBS watch-time, as the network collected 8.14% of all minutes watched from April 4-10. That’s the fifth straight week that CBS has led in our ranking, due at least in part to major sporting events (the Masters and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament).

More insights around the most-watched networks from April 4-10:

• ESPN remained at No. 6 in this week’s rankings, but also increased watch-time from 2.64% to 3.40% week-over-week thanks to its own Masters coverage -- including both early-round tournament play and special SportsCenter airings on location at the event.
• On a similar note, Golf Channel jumped into the top 50 (thanks, again, to Masters coverage) after not being listed the previous week.
• TBS’s airing of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s national title game kept the network among the top 10 by minutes watched for the week.
• Leaning on its typical syndicated comedy programming, TV Land made modest week-over-week watch-time gains, climbing from No. 23 to No. 22 by minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Courtesy of a simulcast across TBS, TNT and truTV, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s championship game delivered the most TV ad impressions, with over 2.6% of the total for the week.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• With four days of golf action across four different networks, the Masters scored the third-most impressions for the week (1.85% of the total).
• Speaking of sports, it‘s a major point of emphasis for the week, as five of the top 10 programs by impressions are sports-related.
• Another week with two shows (April 4 and 10) meant another week of American Idol finishing in the top five for TV ad impressions.
• The arrival of the regular season meant Major League Baseball games returning to national TV, where matchups served up more than 450 million ad impressions from Thursday through Sunday.

CBS parked itself at No. 1 again in our ad-impressions-by-network ranking for April 4-10, delivering 13.7% of TV ad impressions during the time period.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from the week:

• Talk and news programs accounted for nearly 50% of ABC TV ad impressions from April 4-10, led by Good Morning America (14.9% of ABC impressions).
• The Masters had a competitor on CBS, as The Price Is Right delivered 10.97% of impressions to lead all programs on the network (The Masters was second with 10.11%).
• From April 4-10, nearly 18% of Fox News Channel impressions for the week came during Monday programming (almost as much as Saturday and Sunday combined).
• Bravo TV ad impressions leapt by more than 20% week-over-week, with shows in the Real Housewives franchise accounting for 40% of impressions from April 4-10. ▪️

The 2022 March Madness NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments will be in full swing this weekend and dominate the lineup of live TV sports events.

The men’s tournament will begin its second round with 16 games over two days airing on CBS, TNT and TBS to determine which teams go into the tournament’s Sweet 16 round next week. Already the tournament has featured several upsets, including St. Peter’s overtime win over second-ranked Kentucky in the Eastern regionals Thursday night. 

The women’s college basketball tournament kicks off Saturday with 64 teams competing for the top prize. ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews will feature live coverage of the tournament’s first round action. 

In other sports, NBC and The Golf Channel will offer weekend final round coverage of the PGA Valspar Championship golf tournament. NBC will also feature Six Nations rugby coverage Saturday featuring the Ireland-Scotland game, while USA Network will televise live Premier League soccer games on Saturday and Sunday. 

On Sunday, TNT will televise the New York Islanders-Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League contest. On the racetrack, Fox will televise the Sunday afternoon NASCAR Cup Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 race, NBC will air the IndyCar XPEL 375 race and ESPN will offer coverage of the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix race. ■ 

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 last weekend of February starts on the basketball court as ABC and ESPN offer a full weekend of NBA action. 

ABC’s weekly Saturday primetime NBA game telecast will feature the Brooklyn Nets against the defending league champion Milwaukee Bucks. On Sunday, ABC airs an NBA doubleheader featuring the Philadelphia 76’ers-New York Knicks and the Utah Jazz-Phoenix Suns games. Sunday night, ESPN telecasts its own NBA doubleheader block, offering the Dallas Mavericks-Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans-Los Angeles Lakers contests.  

On the college basketball front, ESPN on Saturday will air games including top-ranked Gonzaga versus No. 23 Saint Mary’s, third-ranked Auburn battling No. 17 Tennessee, fourth-ranked Purdue facing off against Michigan State, fifth-ranked Kansas against No. 10 Baylor and ninth-ranked Duke taking on Syracuse. Other top 10 ranked teams in action Saturday include second-ranked Arizona-Colorado (ESPN2), No.6 Kentucky-No. 18 Arkansas (CBS) and No. 9 Texas Tech-TCU (ESPN2).

On the ice, ABC will televise a live Saturday afternoon NHL game between the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, while TNT will air a primetime NHL matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators. On Sunday NHL Network will televise the Edmonton Oilers-Carolina Panthers and New York Islanders-Anaheim Ducks games. 

Showtime will offer a late Saturday night boxing card headlined by the Chris Colbert-Hector Luis Garcia junior lightweight bout. ESPN Plus will air a UFC Fight Night mixed martial arts bout between Islam Makhachev and Bobby Green.

Round three of the Guinness Six Nations Rugby tournament continues Saturday on CNBC with Scotland facing France and England battling Wales. On the soccer field, USA Network will offer two live Premier League games Saturday and one Sunday telecast. Sunday will also feature live Major League Soccer action on FS1 and ESPN. 

On Sunday, NBC will air the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg auto race, while Fox offers the NASCAR Cup Wise Power 400 event. Fox will also televise the Pro Bowlers Association’s Tournament of Champions event.

On the links, NBC and Golf Channel will televise final round coverage of the PGA Honda Classic tournament. ■

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).

This weekend’s lineup of TV sports events begins at arguably the biggest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl LVI. NBC’s telecast of Sunday’s NFL Championship matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams is expected to be the most watched television event of 2022.

Following the Super Bowl, NBC will air live coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics, part of the NBC Sports’ weekend-long coverage of the games across such networks as USA Network and CNBC. The full schedule of Olympics events can be found here.

In other weekend sports action, ABC will continue its Saturday night primetime NBA telecasts with live coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors game. The network on Sunday afternoon will televise the Atlanta Hawks-Boston Celtics contest. 

On the soccer field, NBC and Peacock will offer Saturday morning Premier League coverage, while FS2 on Saturday begins Club World Cup coverage. On the links, CBS and the Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Phoenix Open golf tournament. 

ESPN Plus will distribute the UFC 271 pay-per-view mixed martial arts event featuring a main event rematch between middleweights Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. In the squared ring, DAZN will carry live the Daniel Jacobs-John Ryder super middleweight boxing match.

Saturday’s college basketball schedule features top-ranked Auburn battles Texas A&M on ESPN, second-ranked Gonzaga takes on No. 22 Saint Mary’s on ESPN2, and fourth-ranked Arizona travels to play Washington on Pac 12 Network. Other games include No. 5 Kentucky-Florida (ESPN) No. 6 Houston-Memphis (ABC), No. 7 Duke-Boston College (ACC Network), No. 8 Kansas-Oklahoma (CBS), No. 9 Texas Tech-TCU (Big 12 Network) and No. 10 Baylor-No. 20 Texas (ESPN2). On Sunday, third-ranked Purdue faces Maryland on CBS.

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.  

Tim Rosaforte, 66, veteran golf writer and Golf Channel sportscaster, died Tuesday (January 11) in Palm Beach Garden, Florida. He had Alzheimer's.

Rosaforte joined Golf Channel in 2007 as the network's go-to insider, breaking stories like Dustin Johnson's fall before the Masters, or putting the death of Arnold Palmer in context, while admittedly numbed by the death of the Golf Channel co-founder.

According to Golf Channel, Rosaforte covered 125 major championships, 17 Ryder Cup competitions (between U.S. and European teams), and all the Masters tournaments between 1983 and 2020. He retired in 2019 after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Golf Channel host Rich Lerner said Tuesday night on air that Rosaforte "worked his ass off" but still "carved out time for people....People trusted him, which is why they shared their stories with him."

Lerner said that while the business was a little bit about performance, Rosaforte simply wanted to present the facts "exactly as they were presented to him."

Craig Dolch, a fellow sportscaster and writer, said he played most of his golf with Rosaforte and that he was always on the phone, or at times two phones, working a story. 

"Terrible news to hear today," said U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau. "Tim was an amazing reporter and a respected journalist. Had a lot of great conversations throughout the few years I was on tour. Sending my thoughts and prayers to his family today."

Rosaforte was the recipient of the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism and was an honorary PGA member.

"The PGA tour lost a friend today," said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. "A true professional, Tim always treated our organization and our athletes fairly, writing and speaking with an opinion but without an agenda. He never stopped working the phones ensuring that he not only got the story first, he got the story right." ■

The focus on live TV sports events this weekend starts on the basketball court as several top 10-ranked college basketball teams are in action.

On Saturday Fox will air the game between the NCAA’s fourth-ranked team UCLA and Marquette, while ESPN will televise the game between eighth-ranked Kansas and Missouri as well as the contest between 10th-ranked Kentucky and Notre Dame. ESPN2 will carry No. 9 Alabama’s game against No. 14 Houston. 

On Sunday, second-ranked Baylor takes on sixth-ranked Villanova on ABC, while top-ranked Purdue will look to rebound after an upset loss to Rutgers in its game against NC State, which airs on the Big Ten Network. 

In the NBA, ABC on Saturday will televise the Golden State Warriors-Philadelphia 76’ers contest.  

In the combat sports arena, ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 269 pay-per-view fight card featuring the main event fight between lightweights Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. 

On the boxing front, ESPN will televise the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Richard Commey lightweight fight, while Showtime will televise the Nontio Donaire-Reymart Gaballo bantamweight title match. 

On the gridiron, CBS will air the annual Army-Navy college football game on Saturday. On Sunday, NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast will feature an NFC Central battle between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. 

NBC and the Golf Channel will air weekend final round coverage of the PGA QBE Shootout golf tournament. NBC, USA and NBCSN will continue its weekend coverage of live Premier League soccer games, while ABC airs a Saturday afternoon MLS game between NYCFC and Portland. 

The live TV sports schedule for the last weekend of September starts on the baseball diamond as the race for the playoff heats up with only one week left in the regular season. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball will telecast the game between bitter rivals the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox as they battle for an American League wild card playoff berth. 

In other sports NBC and Golf Channel will provide weekend coverage of pro golf’s Ryder Cup tournament. NBCSN will offer tripleheader Premier League soccer action on Saturday, while FS1 and ESPN air Major League Soccer telecasts on Sunday.

Week three of the NFL continues Sunday with regional action from Fox and CBS Sunday afternoon along with NBC’s Sunday Night Football game coverage between NFC rivals Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49’ers.

The WNBA playoffs continue on ABC with the Phoenix Mercury traveling to Seattle to meet the defending WNBA champion Storm. 

National broadcast and cable networks will carry college football games from nine of the top 10 ranked teams in action as the season enters its fourth week. The SEC Network’s cameras will follow top-ranked Alabama as the team travels to play Southern Miss, as well as second ranked Georgia as it plays Vanderbilt.

ESPN will air third ranked Oregon’s game against rival Oregon, ABC will televise No. 4 Oklahoma against West Virginia and FS1 will carry No.5 Iowa versus Colorado State. The rest of the games include No. 6 Penn State-Villanova (Big Ten Network), No. 7 Texas A&M-No. 16 Arkansas (CBS), No. 9 Clemson-NC State (ESPN) and No. 10 Ohio State-Akron (Big Ten Network). 

ESPN Plus will distribute the UFC 266 pay-per-view fight card featuring a main event match between featherweights Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega. 

The list of major live TV sports programming airing during the extended July 4 holiday weekend revs up on Saturday with CBS's primetime airing of the new Superstar Racing Experience series, which offers short, sprint races featuring a wide range of drivers and courses, according to the network. This week's race will take place from Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. 

Also from the racetrack on Saturday, NBC will televise the Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. On Sunday, NBC will air the Honda Indy 200 NTT IndyCar Series race as well as the Jockey Made in America 250 NASCAR race.

In other sports, TNT will conclude its 2021 NBA Playoffs coverage this weekend with Saturday’s Eastern Conference Finals game six between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. If Atlanta wins, TNT will air the seventh and final game of the series Monday night. 

Also Read: ESPN Finishes NBA Playoffs Coverage on High Note

Tonight NBC and streaming service Peacock will air game three of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. The defending champion Lightning hold a 2-0 advantage over the Canadiens going into tonight's game. Game Four of the series airs Monday on NBC and Peacock. 

From the soccer field, ESPN and ABC will offer quarterfinal coverage of the UEFA Euro 2000 soccer tournament on Friday and Saturday. Today ESPN provides coverage of the Spain-Switzerland and Belgium-Italy games, while televising the Czech Republic-Denmark game on Saturday. Also on Saturday, ABC will televise the Ukraine-England contest. 

Copa America quarterfinal games will air Friday on FS1 (Peru-Paraguay and Brazil-Chile) and Saturday on FS2 (Uruguay-Columbia) and FS1 (Argentina-Ecuador).

Also Read: Peacock to Stream Remaining Stanley Cup Final Games

ESPN and ESPN2 will offer third round coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament throughout Friday, Saturday and Monday. 

CBS and Golf Channel will tee off with weekend coverage of the PGA Rocket Mortgage Classic Tournament, while NBC continues its Breeders’ Cup: Challenge Series horse racing coverage with live race telecasts on Saturday and Sunday. NBCSN will provide continuing weekend coverage of the Tour de France cycling event. 

TBS on Sunday will feature afternoon baseball with the San Diego Padres-Philadelphia Phillies telecast while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball coverage will feature the Subway Series matchup between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. 

In the ring, Showtime will feature a live fight card headlined by the Chris Colbert-Tugstsogt Nyambayar super featherweight championship fight. 

Also Read: Showtime to Replay Davis-Barrios PPV Fight as Part of July 3 Boxing Telecast

TV sports events for Father’s Day Weekend tee off with NBC and Golf Channel’s coverage of the U.S. Open on Saturday and Sunday. Bryson DeChambeau is still hoping to repeat as champion at the Open, which is is the third of four major PGA championships. Last year’s U.S. Open was postponed until September due to the pandemic. 

The NBA Playoffs conclude its second round this weekend with Saturday night’s Game 7 Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets Eastern Conference series game live on TNT. If necessary Game 7 of the Atlanta Hawks-Philadelphia 76’ers and L.A. Clippers-Utah Jazz series will take place on Sunday night.

Also Read: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Scores Third Straight Primetime Win 

USA Network Saturday will air Game 4 of the Tampa Bay Lightning-N.Y. Islanders NHL Conference Final series, while NBCSN will air Game 3 of the Vegas Golden Knights-Montreal Canadiens Conference Finals.

ESPN Saturday will televise games one and two of the College World Series, with ESPN2 carrying games three and four on Sunday. On the MLB front, Fox Saturday in primetime will televise the Chicago White Sox-Houston Astros game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast features the St. Louis Cardinals at the Atlanta Braves. 

Showtime and ESPN will step into the boxing ring with competing Saturday night fight cards. Showtime will feature the Jermall Charlo-Juan Macias Montiel middleweight championship fight, while ESPN will televise the Naoya Inoue-Michael Dasmarinas bantamweight title match. On PPV, Boxing Hall of Fame fighter Julio Cesar Chavez will step into the ring after a more than 15-year layoff to fight an exhibition match against Hector Camacho Jr. 

Also Read: Boxing Legend Julio Cesar Chavez to Fight in PPV Exhibition Bout

The first weekend of June will feature a stellar lineup of live sports events from boxing to NBA and NHL playoff games. 

Sunday will feature the return of boxer Floyd Mayweather to the pay-per-view ring in an exhibition fight against YouTube star Logan Paul. The Showtime-distributed PPV fight will retail at a suggested price of $49.99, according to industry sources. 

The second round of the NBA Playoffs will tip off on Saturday with the first game of the Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets series on TNT. On Sunday, ABC will air the first game of the Atlanta Hawks-Philadelphia 76’ers matchup as well as game 7 of the first-round matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the L.A. Clippers. 

Also Read: PPV Boxing's Summer Bonanza

USA Network on Saturday will air second round coverage of the Carolina Hurricanes-Tampa Bay Lightning series while NBC airs game four of the Boston Bruins-New York Islanders series. NBCSN will offer Sunday coverage of the Winnipeg Jets-Montreal Canadiens game three matchup as well as game four of the Colorado Avalanche-Vegas Golden Knights series.

In other TV sports events, ESPN will air weekend coverage of the college softball world series as well as Sunday Night Baseball coverage of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game.

Also Read: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Wins in Primetime 

CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament, while NBC will air final round coverage of the US Women’s Open.   

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 5-11, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The 2021 Masters Tournament took first place, capturing 2.70% of all minutes watched, while the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was in second place (0.94%). MLB baseball and NBA basketball both made the top 10 for watch-time, with 0.89% and 0.79%, respectively. Ranking newcomers for the week included Gunsmoke, which was at No. 19 (0.45% of all minutes watched) and The Price Is Right (No. 22, 0.42%). American Idol remained at No. 25, with a slight increase in watch-time from the previous week (0.40% vs. 0.39%).

Also Read: Just How Much of a Slam Dunk Has March Madness Been on Live TV?

CBS continued to reign supreme on the network ranking, snagging 9% of watch-time, up from 7.51% the previous week, thanks in part to the 2021 Masters Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament. The Masters also helped boost ESPN and Golf Channel up in the chart: ESPN took sixth place with 2.58% of all minutes watched, while Golf Channel was No. 25 (1.02%). TBS, which had been benefiting from March Madness games over the last few weeks, dropped to No. 14 from ninth place; MSNBC also slipped in the rankings, down to No. 16 from No. 10 the week before.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Once again, college basketball was No. 1 for TV ad impressions, 930.7 million, a 74.82% week-over-week decrease as March Madness and the NCAA tournament came to a close. NBA basketball took third place with 729.3 million impressions, a 55% increase from the previous week. The 2021 Masters Tournament and Live From the Masters were neck and neck with 636.1 million impressions vs. 625 million, respectively, and MLB baseball made the top 10 with 622 million impressions, a slight 5.6% week-over-week increase.

CBS maintained its first-place position, although its 7.9 billion TV ad impressions constituted a minor week-over-week decrease. Both ABC and NBC had slight upticks in impressions from the week before, generating 5.6 billion and 4.9 billion, respectively, compared to 5.4 billion and 4.7 billion. Golf Channel jumped into 10th place from No. 17, with its 629.8 million impressions fueled almost entirely by Live From the Masters. MLB Network and Fox Sports 1 were close behind, each generating over 621 million TV ad impressions. Headline News took No. 19 with 369.1 million impressions, driven largely by The Death of George Floyd: Derek Chauvin on Trial.

With pro football games off the schedule this weekend (ahead of Super Bowl LV on CBS on Feb. 7), college basketball takes center court, with many of the sport's top-ranked teams in play on Saturday and Sunday. 

On Saturday, No. 1 Gonzaga will battle Pepperdine on ESPN2, while second-ranked Baylor will host Auburn on ESPN and third-ranked Villanova will travel to face Seton Hall on Fox. Eighth-ranked Virginia will meet 20th-ranked Virginia Tech on ACC Network, ninth-ranked Alabama will meet 24th-ranked Oklahoma on ESPN and tenth-ranked Texas Tech will go to battle LSU on ESPN2. On Sunday, sixth-ranked Houston will host SMU on ESPN. 

The NBA will tip off a Saturday primetime NBA matchup between the champion Los Angeles Lakers at the Boston Celtics on ABC, while NBA TV will air a doubleheader on Sunday featuring the Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets and the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards. 

CBS and Golf Channel will split afternoon coverage of the PGA Farmers Insurance Open on both Saturday and Sunday, while NBC and NBCSN will offer three Premier League Soccer games on Saturday (Everton vs. Newcastle United, Manchester City vs. Sheffield United and Arsenal vs. Manchester United). 

Fox will step into the boxing ring for a primetime Saturday night fight card telecast, led by the Caleb Plant-Caleb Truax super middleweight championship fight.

The National Football League’s six post-season games kick off this weekend’s lineup of live sports programming. 

The expanded first round of the NFL Playoffs will feature three games each on Saturday and Sunday. CBS will air the Jan. 9 Indianapolis Colts-Buffalo Bills game, followed by the Fox’s Los Angeles Rams-Seattle Seahawks telecast and NBC's Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Washington Team broadcast. 

On Jan. 10, CBS will team with kids-targeted network Nickelodeon and streaming service Prime Video to deliver the Chicago Bears-New Orleans Saints game; ESPN and ABC will air the Baltimore Ravens-Tennessee Titans matchup, and NBC will telecast the primetime Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game. 

Read Also: Amazon to Stream NFL Playoff Game

Several games featuring top 10-ranked college basketball teams will hit the airwaves on Saturday including second-ranked Baylor against TCU (ESPN), fourth-ranked Texas taking on 14th-ranked West Virginia (ESPN) and seventh-ranked Creighton hosting St. John’s (FS1). On Sunday The Big Ten Network will telecast live coverage of fifth-ranked Iowa hosting 16th-ranked Minnesota.

Also, the Golf Channel will offer full coverage of the PGA 2021 Tournament of Champions, from first and second round coverage Jan. 8 through final round coverage on Jan. 10. 

College and pro football games as well as mixed martial arts action are on the menu for sports fans as the industry heads into the Thanksgiving week.

The NFL’s 11th week on Sunday will feature an NBC Sunday Night Football matchup between AFC West rivals Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders. Other national game telecasts from CBS (New England at Houston) and Fox (Green Bay at Indianapolis) are also on the docket.

The college football schedule is highlighted by Saturday afternoon contests between third-ranked Ohio State and ninth-ranked Indiana on Fox and fourth-ranked Clemson and Florida State on ABC. Primetime games feature 14th-ranked Oklahoma State and 18th-ranked Oklahoma on ABC, and 20th-ranked USC and Utah on ESPN.

The UFC will step into the octagon Saturday night for its UFC 255 pay-per-view event, which will feature as its main event the Alex Perez-Deiveson Figueiredo featherweight championship. The card will also feature women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defending her title against Jennifer Maia.

NBC will offer Premier League soccer coverage on Saturday, while NBCSN will air league games on Saturday and Sunday. FS1 and ESPN will feature Major League Soccer coverage on Sunday. Meanwhile, Golf Channel will provide coverage of the PGA’s RSM Classic on Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a missing voice in coverage of this week's Masters Tournament, which was moved from its traditional magnolia-festooned April due to COVID-19.

David Duval, studio analyst for Golf Channel, has tested positive for the virus, according to the cable network.

Duvall tweeted: "I’m so sad not being a part of the Masters coverage this week. I flew to Atlanta and drove to Augusta Sunday. I went straight to the testing site and got tested. Like so many other Americans I was apparently unknowingly exposed to COVID and tested positive."

Duval told the channel he did not have symptoms, according to his fellow analysts, who announced the diagnosis on Live from the Masters Tuesday night (Nov. 10) to explain the absence of the former world number one golfer and major champion.

"As of now I have no symptomsm: Duvall tweeted. "I drove home straight thru the night and am in quarantine in my basement."

Former Masters Champion Sergio Garcia had to drop out of the tournament after he also tested positive for the virus.

The PGA Tour said during the Golf Channel’s coverage of The CJ Cup Oct. 15-18, BetMGM will provide live betting odds to viewers.

The move is another step as legalized gambling seeps into television coverage of sports events.

BetMGM content will appear twice per hour, featuring leaderboards with open and current odds to win, along with odds for head-to-head matchups, winning margins, top finishes, holes in one and playoffs.

“We are excited to build upon our recently announced Official Betting Operator relationship with BetMGM by activating this partnership at the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA Tour senior VP, media and gaming. “The focus of our sports betting partnerships is to engage fans in new and creative ways. As an element of that strategy, we began integrating live odds onto Tour digital platforms in August and now we look forward to learning from this first-time test in a live telecast.”

The PGA signed a deal to make BetMGM an official betting operator of the PGA Tour. BetMGM offers a variety of betting options including moneyline, point spreads, parlays and futures.

BetMGM is licensed in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada and West Virginia. It plans to be in 11 stated by the end of the year.

“The PGA Tour has been a great partner for BetMGM. Being the first sports betting platform to integrate betting odds into a live PGA tour telecast speaks to the innovative nature of our partnership," said Matt Prevost, BetMGM chief marketing officer. "We look forward to continuing to move the needle and work closely with the Tour to produce great content.” 

PGA Tour Live, the PGA Tour’s OTT streaming platform, integrated live betting odds during the opening two rounds of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 13-14. 

NBCUniversal, looking to differentiate its Peacock streaming service with live sports, said Peacock will be part of its coverage of next month’s U.S. Open golf tournament.

Peacock has already added an NBC Sports channel featuring talk shows and will have an NFL playoff game in the fall as well as Olympic action next year.

During the U.S. Open, Peacock will exclusively stream two hours of live coverage as part of its free tier. Peacock will also have featured groups and featured hole coverage.

“The USGA is excited to be back in the NBCUniversal family, including Golf Channel and NBC’s Peacock platform, in providing extensive coverage of the U.S. Open Championship,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “A talented and knowledgeable group of broadcasters, including several USGA champions, and an experienced production team, led by Tommy Roy, will provide in-depth perspective on the championship and help us celebrate the greatness of the U.S. Open and the players who compete in it.”

The USGA in June said it transferred the U.S. media rights for its championship to NBCU, starting this year and continuing through 2026.  Fox ended its relationship with the USGA. NBCU most recently aired the U.S. Open in 2014.

NBCU will have nearly 45 hours of live primary coverage of the U.S. Open on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock. 

The final hour of NBC’s coverage on the closing Sunday of the tournament will appear commercial free as part of Rolex’s long-time sponsorship of the USGA.

“It is with great pride that NBC Sports welcomes the return of the U.S. Open to our portfolio in partnership with the USGA, to further elevate their slate of championships,” said Pete Bevacqua, president, NBC Sports Group. “Under a tight timeframe, our world-class production team is prepared to showcase the U.S. Open next month from famed Winged Foot Golf Club, capturing the drama of the world’s best vying for this year’s second major championship.”

For NBC Sports’ David Feherty and Nick Faldo, covering the U.S. Open will place them among a handful of broadcasters who have covered all of golf’s major men’s championships. They will be the only ones to have covered those championships, plus the Players Championship, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Tour Championship and the Olympics.

NBC Sports’ coverage will be led by 29-time Emmy Award-winning producer Tommy Roy – along with NBC Sports’ producer Brandt Packer. 

Peacock will also be a part of NBCU’s live coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open in December. 

The Golf Channel today (June 11) begins its live coverage of the four-day Charles Schwab Challenge PGA golf tournament, the first PGA Tour event since play was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Golf Channel and CBS will offer 59 live hours of tournament coverage from the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas, all while implementing health screenings and safety protocols as well as a reduced on-site footprint.

Golf Channel executive producer Molly Solomon spoke to me on the eve of the tournament regarding the network’s production strategy -- Golf Channel and CBS for example will share one announcing crew -- as well as the network’s plans for covering a very busy PGA tournament schedule that is scheduled to extend into the fall. An edited version of the interview appears below.

What does the return of the PGA Tour to full time play mean for the Golf Channel?

It’s going to be great for golf fans and all of us who produce television to be back in the chair again. We have 11 hours of consecutive news and coverage from the tournament beginning at 9 am. (today). CBS produces the broadcast, including first and second round coverage for the Golf Channel, so this has been a collaborative process over the last month and a half to create a unified, linear broadcast production. CBS has had to reduce its personnel footprint, and yet they are going to give us everything we want in terms of three hours of coverage. Because they can’t have all of their announcers together, Jim Nantz is going to host all four rounds from Colonial and announcers Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo will be announcing from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive set in Florida. We wanted to give them the best technical setup to succeed remotely, so we were anxious to lean in and help our partners in whatever way we could.

Other than the lack of spectators, will viewers see anything different from a production standpoint with the tournament coverage?

We’re able to try some things like putting mics on the players and framing the action more intimately. We’ve always been interested in what the players say to their caddies and the interactions with their playing competitors. There is some hesitation from some players about wearing a mic, so we’re hopeful some of the players will lean in, and we'll get conversations that we haven’t had in the past. The audiences are in the loop in terms of what the restraints are for production, so I think imperfect is going to be accepted during this pandemic. All of us in television production really pride ourselves on the excellence and quality of the broadcasts, and CBS is going to be charged with providing the same amount of hours but with less people. They have a terrific production plan, so we’ll just be happy to see the sport back in action. We have the top five players starting at Colonial, so it starts with the action, and I think it's going to be terrific.

How difficult was it for the Golf Channel to get through the pandemic from a business and production standpoint?

The priority is and has always been the safety of our employees, and so initially when we were reduced to working from home we put on [PGA] tournament replays, which were really attractive for our audience. Slowly but surely our operations team really relied on their production ingenuity and created production control rooms from home. We were able to start producing news content with the anchors and directors at home, beginning with short form digital news and ramping up to doing half-hour shows from home. We felt with the tournaments coming back that we were ready to bring people back to the building, but in very limited numbers. There’s a health and safety plan in place, but it was time to get back to doing what we do when the PGA Tour players are back in action.

How does the rest of the year shape up for The Golf Channel?

It’s going to be a great fall if you are a sports fan -- you’re going to have all the leagues back. Usually the big golf events finish before the end of the summer to make way for football, but in these unprecedented times we’re going to have a fall that is chock full of PGA championships. Golf fans are really loyal and really excited about the prospect of fall golf. They want to see what the [2020 Masters Tournament] looks like in November. We’re going to have the [FedEx Cup] championship finish on Labor Day. As sports fans we’ve been so starved for so many months, so I think there’s room for golf championships taking place later than normal in the calendar year.

Illustrating the power of sports on television, the PGA Tour signed new nine-year rights deals that will pay it $700 million a year, up from about $400 million.

Golf matches will continue to be broadcast on weekends on Comcast’s NBC and ViacomCBS’s CBS, with CBS getting 19 events per season and NBC eight.

NBCU’s GolfChannel will provide all early-round coverage and early weekend coverage of every FedExCup event each season, along with PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour. The PGA Tour and NBC Sports will expand their collaborative content and programming relationship.

The PGA Tour also negotiated its digital rights at the same time as its TV rights for the first time. The result is that the subscription service PGA Tour Live will exclusively be a part of The Walt Disney Co.’s streaming ESPN Plus.

Working with the PGA Tour, the LPGA also got a rights agreement. LPGA events will be anchor programming on Golf Channel, wit expanded exposure on NBC and CBS.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but several reports indicated that the value of the deals were about $700 million.

“The nine-year deals will put us in a position to significantly increase player earnings, deliver more value to our tournaments and sponsors, and ultimately allow us to continue to grow our charitable footprint,” said Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour. “Additionally, we are now able to reinvest in our sport in a way never before possible, including production, personnel and technology, and are well positioned to best serve and grow our fanbase in the years to come.”

The PGA Tour will assume responsibility of the onsite production area and technical infrastructure each week, enabling the Tour to more efficiently aggregate, distribute and develop content for its various platforms worldwide. CBS and NBC will still use their own production and announce teams, led by their producers, directors and production personnel.

“We’re excited to extend NBC Sports’ historic partnership with the PGA Tour as its foundational media partner," said Pete Bevacqua, president, NBC Sports Group. "We will continue to utilize our extensive platforms to showcase golf with unparalleled live tournament coverage, comprehensive news and high-quality content. Golf is a part of NBCUniversal’s DNA across our broadcast, cable, streaming and digital properties – nowhere more so than Golf Channel.”

The Tour and its media partners will collaborate on creating more sponsorship and marketing opportunities, inside and outside PGA Tour golf coverage, including access to the vast resources of ViacomCBS, Comcast/NBC Sports Group and Disney and ESPN+.

“Extending our successful long-standing relationship with the PGA Tour was a top priority, and we are thrilled to add nine more years to this terrific partnership,” said Sean McManus, chairman, CBS Sports. “As the PGA Tour’s primary broadcast network, we are excited to showcase over two-thirds of all broadcast network coverage of the PGA Tour , expand our schedule with all three FedExCup Playoffs events in alternate years, and to increase our use of PGA Tour content across all CBS Sports platforms, with even more expansive content exclusivity. For over 60 years the PGA Tour, its tournaments and sponsors have been outstanding partners. We look forward to many more years of growth and success together.”

Beginning in 2022 PGA Tour Live will be expanded with ESPN Plus, offering multiple live content channels nearly every week of the FedExCup season.

“We are looking forward to working with the PGA Tour to bring current and future golf fans the next generation of Tour coverage. ESPN Plus will offer golf fans unprecedented access and storytelling at an incredible value on the industry’s leading sports streaming platform,” said Jimmy Pitaro, president of ESPN and co-chairman, Disney Media Networks.

PGA Tour Live on ESPN Plus will bring fans more access to the 30,000-plus golf shots hit each week on the PGA Tour by delivering more than 4,000 hours of live streaming coverage annually. All of this will be available to ESPN+ subscribers as part of the base subscription.

NBC Sports has named Golf Channel executive Molly Solomon as NBC Olympics president and executive producer in charge of the network’s 2020 Olympics coverage.

Solomon, who will retain her position as Golf Channel executive producer, will oversee all day-to-day editorial production of NBC Olympics’ coverage of next summer's games from Tokyo, as well as content on the Olympic Channel, the company said. Solomon replaces longtime Olympics producer Jim Bell, who left the company earlier this month.

NBC Sports Group president Pete Bevacqua said on a Tuesday afternoon conference call that Solomon, who has been involved with NBC’s Olympics coverage since 1992, is a perfect fit for the position. “When you combine her passion and energy with the deep history she has at NBC Sports and the Olympics, I have to say that this was a very easy and obvious decision,” he said.

NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel added that he’s looking forward to reuniting with Solomon for the 2020 Games. “She brings an amazing amount of energy, a great deal of creativity, and we have this incredibly ambitious plan leading into what should be one of the great Olympics of our career,” he said. “To have Molly plug in and apply not just her energy but some of her incredible creativity to how we present the Olympics is really a privilege for us, and it’s really exciting for the team.”

Solomon said she looks forward to bringing a “uniqueness” to the position. “My mantra as a producer is let’s innovate and search for fresh ways to tell the athlete stories,” she said.

Golf Channel’s latest swing at original documentaries recounts pro golf’s most epic tournament collapse as part of NBC Sports’ lead up to its coverage of the 2018 Open Championship.

The documentary, Go Down Swinging: ’99 at Carnoustie will debut July 9 and take a look at the conclusion of the 1999 Open in which Frenchman pro golfer Jean van de Velde relinquished at 3-shot lead on the last hole of the tournament.

The special will feature interviews with Jean van de Velde and his caddie, along with eventual winner Paul Lawrie, according to NBC Sports.

The special is part of NBC Sports’ lead-up to the Open tournament, in which Golf Channel and NBC will provide a total of 180 hours of content profiling and covering The Open, said network officials.

As for the tournament, NBC Sports group will offer nearly 50 hours of live coverage of the championship golf tournament beginning July 19.