College football’s biggest rivalry, Michigan-Ohio State, has been canceled. Plus: the NHL has a new start date in mind, Nielsen is preparing a new measure, and more.
Michigan-Ohio State game canceled
Saturday’s Michigan-Ohio State game has been canceled due to COVID-19 cases on the Wolverines, marking the first time in more than a century that the annual rivalry game will not be played. The game was scheduled for Saturday at Noon ET on FOX and a replacement game had not been announced by Tuesday night. The cancellation had been expected for several days.
In the original iteration of the Big Ten schedule, which was abandoned when the league made its short-lived decision to cancel the entire season, Michigan-Ohio State would have been played in October. [ESPN.com 12.8]
NHL, NHLPA, said to be targeting January 13 start for shortened season
The NHL and NHL Players Association are said to be targeting a January 13 start date for a 52-56 game season, ESPN, The Athletic and the New York Post reported Tuesday. The NHL was originally eyeing a January 1 start but that became unfeasible with the passing of time. Per ESPN, there is hope that a return-to-play plan can be finalized by the end of this week. [ESPN.com 12.8, The Athletic 12.8, NYP 12.8]
Nielsen preparing new measure that would combine TV, digital viewing
Nielsen is planning to phase in a new measure combining TV and digital viewership starting in 2022. Under the banner “Nielsen One,” the company plans to provide data for content across all platforms and devices, as opposed to the current system in which viewing is measured only on Nielsen-rated networks and on TV-connected devices. The measure is expected to roll out fully by 2024 and follows previous efforts to incorporate non-traditional viewing. [Variety 12.8 via Sports Business Daily 12.8]
Plus: Brennaman, Auto Club 400, Alliss
Former Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman, who resigned earlier this year after uttering an anti-gay slur on the air, has been hired to call games for Puerto Rico’s Roberto Clemente League, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. … NASCAR announced Tuesday that it has replaced its scheduled Auto Club 400 from Fontana (Ca.) in February with a Daytona road race. As a result of the change, the race at Homestead-Miami has been pushed back from the second to the third week of the season. … Longtime golf analyst Peter Alliss, who began his broadcasting career in 1961 and was working as recently as last month’s Masters, died over the weekend at age 89. [Rosenthal/Twitter 12.8, NASCAR.com 12.8, Washington Post 12.6]
