The NFL is reportedly considering moving some games to Saturdays if the college football season is canceled or postponed. Also: NASCAR has officially announced its return dates; ESPN is taking its time to decide on its Monday Night Football booth; and more.
NFL reportedly weighing Saturday games if CFB gets called off
NFL officials have engaged in preliminary discussions about moving some games to Saturdays this season if the college football season is canceled or postponed, the New York Post reported Thursday. Given that the fate of the college football season will not be known by the time the NFL schedule is released next month, it stands to reason that any additional Saturday games would be part of the league’s flexible scheduling program. [NYP 4.30]
NASCAR officially announces May return at Darlington
NASCAR officially announced Thursday that it plans to resume its season on Sunday, May 17 with four Cup Series races in 11 days at Darlington and Charlotte. As previously reported by multiple outlets, the schedule will pick up at Darlington May 17 and 20 and Charlotte on May 24 and 27. The Sunday races (May 17 and 24) will air on FOX and the Wednesday races (May 20 and 27) on FS1. [NASCAR 4.30]
ESPN taking its time re: MNF booth
ESPN is in no rush to decide on the future of its Monday Night Football booth, network executive Stephanie Druley told Sports Business Daily Thursday. “We’re taking our time,” she said, adding that “I know that flies in the face of what other people think we should be doing.”
The status of MNF incumbents Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland has been in doubt since Jason Witten left the booth at the end of the 2018 season. The New York Post has been reporting for months that ESPN has been looking both externally and internally at possible replacements.
While the broadcast booth remains in flux, ESPN announced Thursday that it has named Phil Dean the new producer of MNF, replacing Jay Rothman. Dean had previously served as producer on ESPN’s Saturday night college football coverage. [Sports Business Daily 4.30, ESPN PR 4.30]
Plus: LLWS, Old games, “The Ocho”
This year’s Little League World Series has been canceled, a first for the 73-year-old event. … ESPN has extended its lineup of old NFL, Major League Baseball and NBA games through the first week of June. Among the games on schedule are the 2012 Packers-Seahawks Monday Night Football “Fail Mary” (May 4), Games 6 and 7 of the 2011 Rangers-Cardinals World Series (May 19 and 26) and Games 6 and 7 of the 2012 Heat-Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Finals (June 3). … ESPN has scheduled another edition of its “ESPN 8: The Ocho” programming block for Saturday, this time airing on the flagship network rather than ESPN2. The lineup includes a live dead-lift attempt from Iceland. [Little League 4.30; ESPN PR 4.28, 4.29, 4.30 a, b]
