Amazon is reportedly set to stream an NFL playoff game this season. Plus: the NFL has called off the Pro Bowl; longtime ESPN Sunday Night Baseball analyst Joe Morgan has passed; and more.
Report: Amazon to stream NFL playoff game
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Amazon has acquired rights to stream one of the new NFL Wild Card playoff games scheduled for January. The game in question would be the Sunday, January 10 window that is already scheduled to air on CBS, CBS All-Access and Nickelodeon. Amazon is in its fourth season as the streaming partner for Thursday Night Football and is scheduled to air its first exclusive NFL game later this season.
Per Sports Business Journal, Amazon is expected to pay $15-20 million for rights to the game.
In other playoff broadcast news, ESPN has reached an agreement with CBS to provide Spanish-language coverage of the Super Bowl, AFC Championship and an AFC Divisional Round game via ESPN Deportes. CBS has outsourced its Spanish-language Super Bowl coverage to ESPN Deportes each of the last three times it carried the game. [WSJ 10.14, SBJ 10.14, ESPN PR 10.11]
NFL calls off Pro Bowl amidst postponements
The NFL announced Wednesday that the annual Pro Bowl will not be played this season. The all-star game takes place on the weekend between the NFL conference championships and Super Bowl, a bye week that could be eliminated if the league needs to make up postponed games at the end of the season. As with the cancellation of the preseason earlier this year, axing the Pro Bowl has long been considered, as it is one of the lowest rated and most derided NFL games of any given season.
In other NFL scheduling news, the league announced a host of changes over the weekend — including the move of this week’s Bills-Chiefs game from Thursday night to Monday afternoon. [Related: NFL TV schedule.] [NFL PR 10.11, 10.14]
Fmr. ESPN, NBC analyst Morgan passes away
Former ESPN and NBC Major League Baseball analyst Joe Morgan died Sunday at age 77. Morgan was best known for his 21 seasons on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball from 1990-2010, but also served as NBC’s lead MLB analyst from 1994-2000 — calling the World Series in 1995, 1997 and 1999 — and worked games for ABC in the 1980s. Beyond his national MLB gigs, he also worked A’s and Giants games on local Bay Area television and called college baseball for ESPN from 1985-88. [ESPN.com 10.12]
Plus: UF-LSU, Masters schedule, Tennis Channel
Due to the postponement of Saturday’s Florida-LSU college football game — tentatively rescheduled for December 12 — ESPN has picked up the Texas A&M-Mississippi State game originally scheduled for SEC Network. [Related: College football TV schedule.] … With next month’s Masters scheduled to take place at a time of year when the days are shorter, ESPN’s telecast windows are scheduled to run from 1-5:30 PM ET, two hours earlier than the usual 3-7:30 PM windows. CBS previously announced that its telecast windows would run earlier this year to accommodate its football coverage. … Tennis Channel announced Tuesday that it has acquired exclusive rights to all of the top-tier ATP Masters 1000 events. [ESPN PR 10.14; ESPN advance schedule; Tennis Channel 10.13]
