ESPN is successfully pitching its more statistics-heavy and technology-infused coverage of Sunday Night Baseball and its recently launched Statcast alternative telecast to reach younger hard-core and casual fans.

From on-field player interviews from players during its traditional telecasts to the unique, stat-based features on its alternative telecast like “pitch predictor” — which predicts which pitch a pitcher will throw next in any game situation — ESPN is leaning on advanced statistics and unique technology to drive Major League Baseball viewership. 

The tech and stats focus has thus far been a hit with viewers. Through July 28, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecasts have averaged 1.6 million viewers, up 8% compared to a year ago. The July 21 debut of Sunday Night Baseball Statcast Edition — hosted by Kevin Brown, Mike Petriello and Trevor May — captured 11% of the July 21 Los Angeles Dodgers-Boston Red Sox telecast, up from the 9% share averaged by last year’s SNB alternative casts, hosted by Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez, ESPN said. 

ESPN VP of production Phil Orlins spoke to Multichannel News about ESPN’s nuanced approach to its baseball telecasts in 2024. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.  

MCN: Why has it been important to ESPN to feature more technological and statistical innovations in its baseball coverage?  

Phil Orlins: I think that we always aim to be somewhat progressive and lean aggressively towards innovation and differentiation where possible within our Sunday Night Baseball coverage, and it’s been another good year of that. The cooperation and willingness from players in the sport has continued to move in a positive direction, which is great. I think the most noteworthy thing that people talk about is that we’re really in our third year now of doing in-game game interviews with a player on the field during the game. It’s actually become easier as time has gone by. A lot of players have different views on social media as they build their brands, so a lot of them are just comfortable doing it week after week.

MCN: How cooperative has the league been in allowing ESPN to have direct contact with the players during the games?

PO: Baseball has been willing to change and to take risks across the board. From the rule changes led by the pitch clock to allowing player microphones during the game, they have completely altered the narrative around the sport as a stodgy sport stuck in its historical legacy, to now being a sport that is much more appealing, in a number of ways, to young people.

MCN: How do the Statcast alternate telecasts supplement the traditional Sunday Night Baseball presentation for hard-core fans?

PO: The alt-casts allow us to really do some new and progressive coverage that we haven't done in the past. It allows us to break in some new approaches and things of that nature. It’s totally different from any other alt-cast we’ve ever done. It’s very, very much directed for the most passionate baseball fans and most progressive baseball fans out there. It’s nice when you can build something that’s reasonably aggressive but can also be comfortable for all the viewers. Since we’re clearly targeting a certain type of viewer, it allows us to be unreasonably aggressive.

MCN: Do you worry that all the technological advances will turn off older hard-core fans?

PO: We create content for a vast different type of audience, but you can’t please everybody. We certainly hear that. I don’t think it’s costing us viewers or not making them be fans of the sport, but I’m sure there are people who would rather everything be left alone. We do a lot of research on our different types of audiences, and for the most part, that group would prefer that the commentary be straight and predictable and not have intrusions of any type whatsoever. Then we have an equal or larger group of viewers that we refer to as die-hards who want to know and hear more from the telecasts, and they want more personality and everything about the game. I would say that our decision is almost universally to be slightly more on the progressive side and try to be aligned with where the sport is going versus where the sport has been, but not so much that we alienate traditionalists.

This weekend’s lineup of live tv sports events starts on the basketball court as the WNBA tips off its 2023 season.

The league, which is coming off a strong ratings run during its 2022 campaign and which welcomes back star Brittney Griner after her detention in a Russian prison, will feature two Saturday games on ABC pitting the Atlanta Dream against the Dallas Wings, and the defending league champions Las Vegas Aces against the Seattle Storm.    

In the NBA, ABC will air Game 3 of the Western Conference championship between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, with Denver up two games to none in the series. On Sunday, TNT will air Game 3 of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Eastern Conference championship series.

On the ice, TNT will televise Game 2 of the Florida Panthers-Carolina Hurricanes NHL Eastern Conference Finals while ABC on Sunday will air Game 2 of the Dallas Stars-Vegas Golden Knights Western Conference Finals. 

In the boxing ring, ESPN Plus Saturday will distribute a pay-per-view card headlined by the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko undisputed lightweight championship fight. ESPN Plus will also distribute a Saturday UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event women’s strawweight bout between Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock on Sunday will stream the New York Yankees-Cincinnati Reds game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will pit  the Cleveland Indians against the New York Mets. 

ESPN and CBS will offer final round weekend coverage of the PGA Championship golf tournament, while Fox on Sunday will air the Professional Bowlers Association’s Super Slam Cup tournament. 

On the football field, week six of the USFL season kicks off Saturday with USA Network's telecast of the Pittsburgh Maulers-Memphis Showboats game while Fox airs the Birmingham Stallions-Michigan Panthers matchup. Sunday’s action includes FS1’s New Orleans Breakers-Philadelphia Stars telecast and Fox’s New Jersey Generals-Houston Gamblers game. 

On the track, NBC on Saturday will air The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This weekend’s lineup of live TV sports 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 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.■  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ESPN said it was shaking up its baseball announcing lineup and setting up an alternative game broadcast on ESPN2 featuring former highest-paid player Alex Rodriguez.

Former New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees pitcher David Cone will be joining ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball booth alongside play-by-play man Karl Ravech and analyst Eduardo Perez.

The changes come as ESPN begins a new rights deal with Major League Baseball.

Rodriguez will be joined by YES Network’s Michael Kay eight games this season for a special presentation dubbed Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod.

The alternative broadcast is modeled on ESPN’s successful “ManningCast,” which successfully launched on ESPN2 this season, with former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning providing alternative commentary opposite Monday Night Football.

The Kay-Rod games will feature top matchups — Yankees-Red Sox — as well as fantasy baseball, predictive analysis and special guests, ESPN said. 

Also: ESPN To Close Out NFL Season with New Saturday Doubleheader

“As we begin our next chapter of baseball coverage, we aim to maximize the value of this new rights agreement by prioritizing innovation and compelling storytelling,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive VP and executive editor, production.

“We welcome David Cone to ESPN and believe he and Eduardo Perez will offer a master class in contemporary analysis, including Statcast-driven data and discussion,” Williamson said. ”Karl Ravech, who has been our ‘Mr. Baseball’ for three decades, will lead the booth with the command and credibility that he’s displayed throughout his career.

“I’m equally excited for the duo of Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay to team up and offer fans a new, engaging experience,” he added. ”The innovative Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod presentations will be informative and entertaining and play a crucial role in our overall Sunday Night Baseball content offerings. We’re grateful for the collaboration with the YES Network and look forward to starting the 2022 season.”

If the MLB Wild Card Series returns in 2022, the event will be fully exclusive to ESPN platforms and both new commentator teams will contribute to coverage. ■ 

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. 

This weekend’s list of live TV sports events starts on the baseball field with ABC's Saturday coverage of the Little League World Series semifinals between Ohio and South Dakota and Michigan and Hawaii. ESPN on Sunday will air the World Series Championship as well as the third place game.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the New York Yankees against the Oakland A's.

In other sports, NBC and NBCSN will offer weekend coverage of the Paralympics events from Tokyo. NBC will also team with Golf Channel to offer weekend coverage of the PGA BMW Championship golf event. 

The 2021 college football season kicks off with several contests on Saturday, highlighted by the Nebraska-Illinois afternoon game on Fox. ESPN will televise the Hawaii-UCLA game while CBSSN offers coverage of the UConn-Fresno State contest.

NBC on Saturday will televise the NASCAR Cup Coke Zero Sugar 400 auto race, while ESPN on Sunday will televise the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix event. 

On the soccer field NBC and CNBC will offer live Saturday Premier League soccer game telecasts, while NBCSN will feature Saturday and Sunday morning league games. Fox will lead the weekend's MLS coverage with the LA Galaxy-LAFC contest, with FS1 and ESPN offering Sunday morning league coverage.

The NFL pre-season ends this weekend with several Sunday national broadcast TV airings including CBS' Miami-Cincinnati game and NBC's Cleveland-Atlanta contest.

Showtime on Sunday will distribute a pay-per-view boxing match between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former mixed martial arts world champion Tyron Woodley. On Saturday, ESPN will televise a live UFC Fight Night card featuring the Edson Barboza-Giga Chikadze featherweight main event fight. 

This weekend’s list of live TV sports telecasts begins on the soccer field with the launch of the 2021-22 Premier League season. On Saturday USA Network will air the Everton-Southampton match while NBC telecasts the Norwich City-Liverpool game. NBCSN will air two live Premier League soccer matches each on Saturday and Sunday.

Also, Fox on Saturday will air the La Galaxy-Minnesota Major League Soccer game as well as the Liga MX contest between Pachuca and Monterrey. On Sunday ABC airs a La Liga league match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona. 

In other sports, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball's matchup showcases two longtime National League rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.

Showtime will step into the boxing ring Saturday night with a bantamweight championship bout between John Riel Casimero and Guillermo Rigondeaux, while ESPN airs a super flyweight bout between champion Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney. DAZN will also stream a fight card featuring a main event bout between welterweights Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Egidijus Kavalisauskas. 

On the golf links, CBS and Golf Channel will air final round coverage of the PGA Wyndham Championship, and NBC will air Saturday semifinal and Sunday championship coverage of the US Amateur tournament. 

ESPN2 and NBA TV will offer afternoon and evening coverage of NBA Summer League games on Saturday and Sunday, while ABC offers Sunday afternoon coverage of the WNBA game between Seattle and Chicago. 

Read Also: ESPN to Cover NBA Summer League Games 

From the racetrack, NBC on Sunday will air live coverage of the NASCAR Cup Verizon 200 at the Brickyard race, and Fox will televise the NHRA Menards Nationals race. 

NBCUniversal’s Summer Olympics coverage from Tokyo highlights this weekend’s live TV sports lineup with coverage of live volleyball, baseball, boxing, basketball and track and field events on NBC, NBCN, Golf Channel, Peacock and USA Network. A complete listing of weekend events can be found here.

Read Also: NBC Again Gives the Tokyo Summer Olympics TV's Biggest Promo Push 

Fox will step into the boxing ring Saturday night with primetime PBC Fight Night coverage featuring a heavyweight main event clash between Michael Coffie and Jonathan Rice, while ESPN enters the octagon with a Saturday primetime UFC Fight Night card featuring middleweights Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland.

ESPN will offer Sunday coverage of the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix auto race, while Fox on Sunday will provide live drag racing coverage of the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals. 

Also on Sunday, CBS will feature live coverage of the Major League Rugby championship match between Rugby ATL and LA Giltinis and ESPN will telecast semifinal action of The Basketball Tournament. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball game will feature an American League East divisional matchup between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Read Also: Newest NHL Teams to Face Off as ESPN Returns to Hockey

This weekend’s lineup of live sports content on television begins in Tokyo with NBCUniversal’s Summer Olympics coverage. Linear television networks USA, NBCSN, NBC and CNBC will team to offer live coverage in such sports as softball, swimming, tennis, soccer and beach volleyball, skateboarding and water polo. A complete list of televised Olympics events can be found here.

Read Also: NBCU Gears Up for Olympics with Opening Ceremonies Coverage 

Beyond the Olympics, CBS will offer final round coverage of the 3M Open PGA golf tournament, while Golf Channel will feature the Amundi Evian Championship LPGA tour event. 

ESPN Saturday will present a UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event bantamweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw.

On the soccer field, FS1 and FS2 will televise quarterfinal round action of CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. On Saturday, FS2 will televise the Qatar-El Salvador match, while FS1 offers the Mexico-Honduras game. On Sunday, team USA is in action against Jamaica on FS1, while Costa Rica meets Canada, also airing on FS1. Also, ABC will air a Saturday afternoon MLS game between Columbus and Atlanta.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will originate from Milwaukee as the Brewers host the Chicago White Sox in an interleague matchup. 

ESPN will move its Aug. 8 Sunday Night Baseball game to ABC, the first time the broadcast network has aired a game from the cable sports network’s exclusive baseball franchise.

The game, pitting the Chicago White Sox against the Chicago Cubs from Wrigley Field, will feature Matt Vasgersian providing commentary for the game telecast along with analyst and World Series Champion Alex Rodriguez and reporter Buster Olney, said ESPN. 

Last year ABC aired its first MLB postseason game in 25 years during the MLB Wild Card Series. 

Also Read: ESPN Finishes NBA Playoffs Coverage on High Note

Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown will precede Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. The game telecast will be available to stream on the ESPN App and will also be available on ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes. 

There’s good and bad Nielsen news for ESPN on the diamond.

The worldwide leader registered gains during the first half of its silver anniversary season with Major League Baseball, but the latest iteration of the Home Run Derby, which was delayed by rain, whiffed with many watchers.

Though 42 games, ESPN averaged a 0.9 U.S. household rating and 1.24 million watchers, gains of 13% and 11%, respectively, through the same stage of the 2013 MLB campaign.

As to 25th anniversary run of Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN rang up gains of 8% to a 1.3 rating from a 1.2, and 9% to a 1.98 million from 1.83 million, according to Nielsen data. SNB notched 2 million watchers with its most-recent telecast on July 13, as the Baltimore Orioles topped the New York Yankees (pictured) in a rain-shortened contest.

Meanwhile, network officials report that MLB games on WatchESPN were up 72% in average minute audience and 68% in unique viewers during the first half of the season.

The Home Run Derby, with Gillette supplanting State Farm in the title sponsor part of the lineup, averaged a 3.4 rating and 5.4 million on July 14, off 17% and 19% from its 4.1 and 6.7 million viewers a year ago.

This year’s telecast was hurt by a one-hour rain delay at Target Field in Minneapolis, and perhaps by a new format in which five-man American and National League squads only had seven outs per round, instead of the previous 10.

According to SportsMedia Watch, the 3.4 rating was the lowest for the event since at least 1997 (ratings prior to 1998 were not available), a tad below the 3.5 mark in 2003.

Relative to the Midsummer Classic itself, Fox garnered a 7.0 rating and 11.3 viewers, according to Nielsen fast national data, with its presentation of a 5-3 win for the junior circuit in a telecast that paid tribute to retiring Yankees captain Derek Jeter. That was up 1% and 3% from a 6.9 mark and 11 million watchers for the 2013 event.

Fox’s July 15 telecast marked 3% and 4% advances from the 6.8 and 10.9 million viewers for the 2012 All-Star Game, giving the affair its first back-to-back ratings amelioration since 1993 and 1994, and its best performance since 2010.

Early tune-in for the All-Star Game was strong, as interest in Jeter's final All-Star Game appearance drove viewing 9% to a 7.5 rating for the game’s first full half-hour from 8: 30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The numbers were consistently in each half until 10 p.m. – 12.3 million in the 8:30-9 p.m. period and 12.2 million in the 9 p.m. hour – while the venerable shortstop remained in the game. Jeter was pulled by All-Star Game manager, Boston Red Sox skipper John Farrell, after taking the field in the top of the fourth, to thunderous applause and "New York, New York" playing on the stadium's loud speakers.