Recent sports media news, including the Stanley Cup Final again going head-to-head with the NBA Finals, ESPN suing Conference USA, and DirecTV launching its new Root Sports brand.
- For the third straight year, the Stanley Cup Final will go head-to-head with the NBA Finals. According to Puck the Media, Games 2 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final are scheduled for June 5 and 12, respectively, the same dates as Games 2 and 5 of the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Games 3 and 4 could potentially air on June 7 and 9, also opposite the NBA. The Stanley Cup Final is scheduled to begin June 4, with the first two games on back-to-back nights. (Puck the Media)
- ESPN has filed a lawsuit against Conference USA, seeking to void the conference’s new five-year rights deal with Fox Sports or, alternatively, recover $21 million in damages. According to ESPN, the network agreed to a contract extension with C-USA in June, prior to the conference signing its deal with FOX. ESPN SVP, college sports Burke Magnus told the Orlando Sentinel that the suit “is all about fulfilling contracts that were agreed to. They violated that.” (Orlando Sentinel)
- DirecTV-owned regional sports networks FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain will officially be rebranded as ‘Root Sports’ starting Friday. The first live telecasts under the Root Sports brand will be the MLB season openers for the Pirates, Mariners and Rockies. (Root Sports press release from Market Wire)
