Fox Sports is bulking up its college football portfolio; ESPN has dropped another Warriors game; David Stern remains in serious condition; and more.
Fox reportedly acquires Mountain West rights
Fox Sports has acquired rights to Mountain West Conference football and basketball under a deal worth around $15 million/year, Sports Business Daily reported Monday. Fox is replacing ESPN, which had held Mountain West rights since the league’s inception 20 years ago.
CBS Sports will remain the conference’s primary broadcast partner, reportedly extending its deal for around $20 million/year. [SBD 12.16]
ESPN swaps Warriors game for Mavs-Lakers
ESPN has dropped Friday’s Pelicans-Warriors NBA regular season game from its schedule, adding Mavericks-Lakers on December 29 as a replacement. With injury-wracked Golden State a league-worst 5-23, ESPN has now dropped three Warriors games this season.
The Mavericks-Lakers game will begin at 9:30 PM ET, airing opposite the season finale of NBC’s Sunday Night Football. It will be ESPN’s first Sunday NBA game during the NFL season since November 2015, when the network added Warriors-Nuggets during Golden State’s season-opening 24-game winning streak.
In other NBA scheduling news, TNT coverage of Thursday’s Lakers-Bucks game will no longer be blacked out in Los Angeles, as originally planned. [ESPN PR 12.17, Turner Sports]
Big names: Stern, NFL Network announcers, Barrow
Stern in serious condition: Former NBA commissioner David Stern remains in serious condition after suffering a brain hemorrhage last week, the league said in an update Tuesday. Stern, who ended his 30-year run as league commissioner five years ago, collapsed last Thursday afternoon. [NBA.com 12.17]
NFL Network names announcers for Saturday tripleheader: The FOX NFL broadcast team of Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis and Pam Oliver will call Saturday’s Rams-49ers game on NFL Network, the trio’s first NFL Network assignment together. Earlier in the day, NBC’s Mike Tirico will pair with Kurt Warner on Patriots-Bills, and Rich Eisen, Nate Burelson and Joe Thomas will call Texans-Buccaneers. [NFL PR 12.17]
CBS golf producer Barrow stepping down: Longtime CBS Sports golf producer Lance Barrow is stepping down from the position after next season, ending a 23-year run. Barrow succeeded Frank Chirkinian and will be succeeded by Sellers Shy. [CBS Sports]
