News on the NBA’s schedule release plans, possible College Football Playoff delays, and more.
NBA to release 2020-21 schedule in halves
The NBA said Tuesday that it will release the first half of its 2020-21 schedule, which would include games through March 4, “around the start of training camp” next month. The schedule for the second half of the season — which would begin March 11, exactly one year after last season was suspended — would be released toward the end of the first half. The second half would include any postponed games that can be “reasonably” be made up.
The league also confirmed several key dates previously reported by The Athletic and ESPN, including a May 16 end to the regular season, a May 18-21 play-in tournament to determine the final playoff seeds, a May 22 start to the NBA Playoffs, and July 22 as the latest possible date for the NBA Finals. The NBA preseason is scheduled to run from December 11-19. [NBA]
Increasing chatter about pushing back College Football Playoff
CBS Sports reported Tuesday that organizers of the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, which are scheduled to host this season’s College Football Playoff semifinals, are prepared to move off of their New Year’s Day dates should the need arise. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the CFP management committee plans to discuss delaying the playoff on Wednesday at the behest of Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, though there are no indications that such a move is imminent.
The committee previously discussed moving back the playoff, as Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby divulged last week.
In other college football postseason news, ESPN announced last weekend that it has reached a multi-year contract extension to continue broadcasting the Heisman Trophy Presentation. The network has held exclusive rights since 1994. While the ceremony usually takes place mid-December in New York, this season’s edition has been pushed back to Tuesday, January 5, and will originate from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios. All finalists will appear remotely. [CBSSports.com 11.17, Mercury-News 11.16, ESPN.com 11.13]
Plus: Bassmaster, MLS, Milbury
Fox Sports has acquired rights to Bassmaster fishing and will broadcast ten events per season across FOX and FS1, it was announced Tuesday. … Major League Soccer plans to begin its 2021 season on time in March, a reversal from previous reports that it was planning to push back the start to April. The ongoing 2020 season began on February 29. MLS deputy commissioner Mark Abbott cited the potentially “crowded international calendar” as a factor. … When asked by SMW about the status of NBC NHL analyst Mike Milbury, who left the NHL “bubble” midway through the playoffs after making a controversial on-air comment, an NBC Sports spokesperson said only that the network will “announce [its] hockey commentators closer to the start of the season.” [Fox Sports, MLS 11.13, NBC Sports]
