What’s On This Weekend in TV Sports (July 2-5)

By R. Thomas Umstead
last updated

Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Playoffs, UEFA Euro 2000 games lead live sports fireworks heading into July 4 holiday

Blake Coleman #20 of the Tampa Bay Lightning scores against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Two of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on June 30, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Blake Coleman #20 of the Tampa Bay Lightning scores against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Two of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on June 30, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Image credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.