Changes may be coming to the College Football Playoff schedule, Nickelodeon heading to Bikini Bottom for Chargers-Texans, TNT announces coverage plans for “Unrivaled” debut, and more.
CFP director acknowledges scheduling issues
College Football Playoff Executive Director Rich Clark said this week the CFP committee will seek to avoid head-to-head windows with the NFL in the future in a podcast conversation with Puck News‘s John Ourand. Clark acknowledges he had a meeting several months ago with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss scheduling, but no changes were made.
Without offering specifics, Clark told Ourand “We want to see what’s the best way that we can adjust to make it so that viewers can see all that they want and not have to miss that NFL game — or more likely, miss one of our games.” The two CFP games that aired opposite the NFL (SMU-Penn State and Clemson-Texas) were the least-watched of the playoff.
Currently, the first round of the CFP next year is again scheduled with one game on Friday, December 19 and three games on Saturday, December 20. The NFL’s exact plans for the Saturday of Week 16 have not been revealed. (See also: “The past, present and future of the college football postseason on TV”)
Clark also noted the CFP will have discussions around the seeding process, after all four of the conference champions with a first-round bye were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Nickelodeon heading to Houston for Wild Card round
CBS Sports has selected the Chargers-Texans game for its annual youth-oriented alternate telecast on Nickelodeon. The game will air Saturday at 4:30 PM on Nickelodeon and Paramount+. The decision to not select Sunday’s Broncos-Bills game was made possibly due to the chance for winter weather in Buffalo, which makes the augmented reality animations difficult to execute.
CBS’s Nate Burleson will anchor the telecast alongside the returning voices of SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke). Dylan Schefter and Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) will report from the sidelines.
Not returning to this year’s telecast is play-by-play voice Noah Eagle, who called all four previous editions of the Nickelodeon game, including last year’s Super Bowl on Nickelodeon despite working full-time for NBC. Eagle has a college basketball assignment for Peacock on Saturday.
Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, and Evan Washburn will have the traditional call of the game on CBS and Paramount+.
TNT Sports announces “Unrivaled” personnel
TNT Sports has announced its broadcast teams for its coverage of the debut season of the “Unrivaled” women’s 3×3 basketball league. Brendan Glasheen will provide play-by-play alongside analysts Lisa Leslie and Sarah Kustok. A rotation of TNT’s NBA reporters will work the sidelines. Lauren Jbara will host studio coverage along with analysts Candace Parker and Renee Montgomery.
Coverage of “Unrivaled” tips off on Friday, January 17 on TNT, truTV, and Max with Napheesa Collier and the Lunar Owls Basketball Club facing Breanna Stewart and the Mist Basketball Club at 7 PM, followed by Angel Reese and the Rose Basketball Club taking on Reese’s former head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, Arike Ogunbowale and the Vinyl Basketball Club at 8 PM. All coverage will originate from Unrivaled’s facility in Miami.
Plus:
–LIV Golf has announced its 14-week schedule for the upcoming 2025 season. The series will begins on February 6 with four weeks overseas before making its US debut at Trump National Doral in Miami on April 4. Three of the early-season events will go head-to-head with the PGA TOUR’s “signature events”, and the final three events are scheduled simultaneously with the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
–Fox Sports is targeting Formula 1 announcer Will Buxton for a role with the network’s coverage of the upcoming IndyCar racing season, according to Sports Business Journal. Buxton previously worked for NBC’s coverage of F1 until the network lost rights in 2018, then joined the series directly as a digital content host. He has appeared in all six seasons of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” series covering F1 racing. It was not clear exactly what role Buxton would hold for Fox. James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell, who both previously worked for NBC’s coverage of IndyCar, are also reportedly in talks with Fox.
–ESPN has announced a five-year renewal of its media rights agreement with the Big Sky Conference. Four football games will air on ESPN networks on Friday or Saturdays, as well as five basketball games, including portions of the conference tournaments. ESPN’s relationship with the Big Sky dates back to 1980.
