Patriots-Chiefs has been rescheduled for Monday night and is set to remain a national CBS game. Plus: the NHL should have no shortage of suitors even after its least-watched Cup Final since 2007; ESPN has canceled a pair of bowl games.
Pats-Chiefs rescheduled for Monday night
The Patriots-Chiefs NFL game that was originally set to take place Sunday afternoon has been rescheduled for Monday night. The game is set to begin at 7 PM ET and air nationally on CBS. As a result of the move, ESPN’s scheduled Falcons-Packers Monday Night Football game has been pushed back 35 minutes from 8:15 to 8:50 PM. [Related: 2020 NFL TV schedule.]
The last time a Sunday NFL game was postponed to Monday night was 2014, when Jets-Bills was pushed back due to a snowstorm. That game also aired on CBS, but only in the participating markets. In the same situation four years earlier, a rescheduled Giants-Vikings game on FOX was also limited to the home markets.
One would have to go back to 2005 to find the last time that a game postponed to Monday night aired nationally. That year, the Saints’ home opener against the Giants was pushed to Monday night (and relocated to New York) due to Hurricane Katrina. ESPN aired the game in full, and ABC simulcast the first half as a lead-in to its scheduled Monday Night Football game. [NFL PR 10.4]
Report: ESPN, Fox and even CBS could bid on NHL
ESPN and Fox Sports said to be interested in pursuing NHL media rights, and CBS Sports could also make a bid, according to Front Office Sports. The NHL’s current $200 million/year deal with NBC expires at the end of next season. The NHL, which is widely expected to split its rights across multiple partners in its next deal, earlier this year delayed negotiations until at least the end of 2020. [Front Office Sports 10.2]
ESPN cancels pair of bowl games
ESPN this week announced the cancellations of this year’s Bahamas and Hawaii college football bowl games. While the Bahamas Bowl is only five years old, the Hawaii Bowl dates back to 2002 — and Hawaii-based bowl games have been played in all-but-one year since 1982. In addition to the most recent cancellations, the San Francisco-based “Redbox Bowl” was called off over the summer. [ESPN PR 10.2]
