News: WNBA, Black Friday NFL, Van Gundy and more

The WNBA will get primetime exposure on broadcast television for the first time. Plus: Amazon will make its Black Friday NFL game free to watch without a subscription; Stan Van Gundy’s addition to NCAA Tournament coverage is now official; and more.

WNBA gets primetime broadcast television exposure for first time

The WNBA All-Star Game is scheduled to air in primetime on ABC Saturday, July 15, marking the first primetime over-the-air game in the 27-year history of the league. The All-Star Game aired at 1:30 PM ET on ABC last season. In addition to the All-Star Game, ABC is set to carry ten afternoon regular season games this season, starting with a doubleheader of Atlanta-Dallas and Las Vegas-Seattle on May 20.

ESPN is scheduled to air the first two games of Brittney Griner’s return to the WNBA, Phoenix-Los Angeles on May 19 and Chicago-Phoenix on May 21. The May 19 game is set for 11 PM ET as ESPN will likely have NHL Conference Final commitments earlier in the night. Griner is expected to make her return to the court this season after missing last year due to her incarceration in Russia. (ESPN PR)

Amazon to make Black Friday NFL game free without subscription

Amazon Prime announced this week that it will make its Black Friday NFL game available to watch for free without a Prime subscription. In its announcement, the company characterized the move as it offering a “free sample of the benefits that come with Prime membership.” Amazon pushed for the Black Friday game in the hopes of driving traffic to its website on the biggest shopping day of the year. (Amazon PR)

Van Gundy officially announced as part of NCAA Tournament team

CBS and Turner Sports officially announced Tuesday that Stan Van Gundy will replace Reggie Miller on its NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage, news that was first reported Monday by the New York Post. Other changes of note include Ernie Johnson staying with the Atlanta studio team for the entire tournament, as opposed to alternating with Greg Gumbel in New York for the first week of coverage. Johnson will be joined in Atlanta by the returning Candace Parker and Seth Davis, as well as first-year CBS analyst Jay Wright.

Jamie Erdahl, who left CBS college football coverage to join NFL Network, will return to the network as a sideline reporter on the Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas team. (CBS Sports/Turner Sports PR)

Plus: Big East, CBS soccer channel, Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Big East plans to soon begin talks on a media rights extension with Fox Sports, league commissioner Val Ackerman said Wednesday. The conference is in the midst of a 12-year deal with Fox that was signed in 2013 and runs through the 2024-25 season. … CBS Sports announced Wednesday that it will launch a free, 24-hour soccer-focused streaming channel called “Golazo! Network.” The channel will be distributed through the CBS Sports website and app, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. … ABC is set to carry first round Stanley Cup playoff games on consecutive Saturday nights next month, a marked change from last year, when it did not air any games in the first three rounds of playoffs. (Joe Arruda/Twitter 3.8, CBS Sports PR, ESPN PR)

Ratings: NHL, PGA Tour, Spring Training and more

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 6

Martin says:

4 years ago

Is there any chance TNT will simulcast the Stanley Cup Final with CBS? I don’t think that will go well with a lot of fans, especially those who don’t have cable. This has been one of my main issues with Bettman and the league. Also, ABC needs to televise more playoff games especially on weekends.
- Paulsen says:
  
  4 years ago
  
  No chance — TNT wants those games for itself. It’s a big milestone for Turner to have an entire Cup Final to itself.
Nate Johnson says:

4 years ago

I saw how there was mixed responses on SVG calling March Madness games and to me it comes from the similar stigma back in 2011 when viewers and fans had a hard welcoming NBA voices to the coverage. I noticed how there were some that wondered why Jay Wright didn’t get the gig instead which in a way is understandable.

At the end of the day, Turner definitely wants to have a strong presence on the coverage. While there will be questions on whether SVG fits, it should be understood that him being apart of Turner replacing another Turner member was going to give him an advantage over Wright. I do believe Jay Wright will have greater opportunities than being on the Secondary Studio team for the Madness possibly as soon as next season. Personally, I hope one day he will be calling the action because it’s understandable that maybe the analysts need a shift because the analyst who most recently played collegiate or professionally and/or coached collegiate that will analyze the games is Avery Johnson when he last coached in 2019. Wright could easily refresh that. Until then, I’ll give SVG his opportunity and hopes he stays around because he’s really excellent at analyzing the game of basketball.

As far as Gumbel and Johnson having a permanent hosting location, I only hope it works very well. For the record, it really did back in 2021. I thought the studio team during that Madness was the best each location had in their run. I understand that unfortunately, Barkley and Smith will be away from Johnson for a length of time. However, Gumbel has let down his pure professionalism for the Barkley and Smith to share their personality which helped Gumbel and Kellogg be more casual. Who knows how this will play out though. No more of Barkley and Smith sharing half the day with Johnson next Thursday-Sunday could be testing their patience.
esl says:

4 years ago

Great news for the NHL that there will be some broadcast presence in the playoffs this season. I believe if Boston can make a deep run in the playoffs, the ratings should be good. Paulsen, are the Stanley Cup finals on ABC or TNT this year? Do they alternate every season?
- Paulsen says:
  
  4 years ago
  
  SCF is on TNT this year and they alternate each season. So ABC next year.
  - Wyatt says:
    
    4 years ago
    
    Do you believe ABC will switch to Friday nights after the draft to air NHL playoffs since they already have 2 Friday night sports scheduled) since Saturday nights are packed until after 5/20 after those 2 Saturday night games scheduled?