The WNBA has officially announced plans to start its season next month. Also: NHL media rights negotiations will wait until next year; ESPN has announced a new The Undefeated special.
WNBA sets start of season for late July
The WNBA announced Monday that it plans to begin an abbreviated season in mid-July with all games, including the postseason, held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., with no fans allowed to attend. The regular season will be shortened from 36 to 22 games per team, but the playoffs will be played in full.
The WNBA announcement comes just over a week after the NBA announced plans to conclude its regular season and stage a full postseason at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., starting July 31 (the return date has since been reported as July 30). [WNBA]
NHL rights negotiations will wait til next year
Negotiations on a new NHL media rights deal are on hold until at least the end of 2020 according to Sports Business Journal, but the league is still said to be “sitting pretty” with multiple suitors. Per SBJ, the NHL is expected to sell multiple packages in its next deal, which would mark the first time since Fox and ESPN split rights in the 1990s that the league had more than one U.S. partner.
News of the NHL’s delay comes one day after reports that Major League Baseball has reached a contract extension with Turner Sports. [Sports Business Journal 6.15]
ESPN to air new Undefeated special June 24
ESPN announced Monday that it will televise a one-hour special focused on race-related issues June 24. Presented under the banner of The Undefeated, the special — titled “Time for Change: We Won’t be Defeated” — will be hosted by Maria Taylor, Michael Eaves, Elle Duncan and Jay Harris and feature a series of roundtable discussions with athletes and other cultural figures.
ESPN last week aired three The Undefeated specials in primetime, though two of them were years old and hosted by former ESPN employees Jemele Hill and Cari Champion. [ESPN PR 6.15]
NBC Sports, Jenkins, US Open, UCL
NBC Sports is scheduled to air at least one live sportscast every day from Tuesday through July 31, with golf and the Premier League accounting for most of that programming. … CNN has hired New Orleans Saints S Malcolm Jenkins, who has been vocal on social issues, as a contributor. … The United States Tennis Association will announce this week that the US Open will go on as scheduled, but with no fans in attendance, according to The New York Times. … UEFA is reportedly planning to stage the Champions League final, originally scheduled for May 30, on August 23. [NBC Sports PR 6.15, ESPN.com 6.15, NYT 6.15, AP via ESPN 6.15]
