What's On This Weekend in TV Sports (Oct. 30-31)

Yuli Gurriel #10 of the Houston Astros is tagged out at second base by Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves after trying to turn a single into a double during the eighth inning in game one of the World Series at Minute Maid Park on Oct. 26, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
(Image credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Fox broadcasting ‘s coverage of baseball’s World Series leads the Halloween weekend list of TV sports events airing across cable and broadcast networks. The broadcast network will air Game Four of the Houston Astros-Atlanta Braves matchup on Saturday night and Game Five of the Series on Sunday. The World Series was tied at one game each going into Friday night’s action. 

On the combat sports front, ESPN Plus will stream the Saturday afternoon UFC 267 fight card from Abu Dhabi featuring the main event fight between light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and challenger Glover Teixeira. Also, Fubo Sports Network will air live the LXF 6 Lights Out Xtreme Fighting mixed martial arts event. In the boxing ring, Showtime, ESPN Plus and DAZN will televise separate Saturday night fight cards.

On the track, NBC on Sunday will televise the NASCAR Cup Xfinity 500 race, while FS1 will provide coverage of the NHRA Dodge/SRT Nationals. 

College football will enter its ninth weekend of its 2021 schedule with nine of the top 10 teams playing on national television networks on Saturday. CBS will air top-ranked Georgia’s game against Florida, while ESPN2 will televise second-ranked Cincinnati’s contest at Tulane. ABC will provide coverage of No. 4 Oklahoma’s game against Texas Tech, and No. 5 Ohio State’s battle against No. 20 Penn State. The remaining schedule includes No. 6 Michigan-No. 8 Michigan State (Fox), No. 7 Oregon-Colorado (Fox), No. 9 Iowa-Wisconsin (ESPN) and No. 10 Ole Miss-No. 18 Auburn (ESPN).

NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings tops a day of regional NFL game telecasts on CBS and Fox.  

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.