In a move that seemed inevitable for days, the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl is moving to Texas. Plus, the NHL has reached a tentative agreement on a start date, and more.
CFP semifinal at Rose Bowl moving to Cowboys Stadium
Rose Bowl organizers announced Saturday that the College Football Playoff semifinal scheduled for the site will instead take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas. The game remains scheduled for January 1. It is not clear whether it will still be referred to as the Rose Bowl.
The official announcement followed weeks of reports that such a move was under consideration. California no longer allows spectators to attend sporting events in the state and the Rose Bowl was repeatedly denied an exemption. In recent days, CFP-contending coaches Dabo Swinney of Clemson, Bryan Kelly of Notre Dame and Ryan Day of Ohio State have said publicly that the game should be moved because player families would not be able to attend.
Beyond the ban on spectators, Rose Bowl organizers also cited the difficulties California is currently having containing COVID-19. [Rose Bowl 12.19]
NHL and players reach agreement on January 13 start
The NHL and NHL Players Association reached a tentative agreement Friday on 56-game regular season starting January 13. The league plans to temporarily realign into four divisions, including one consisting solely of the league’s seven Canadian teams. All games would be intra-divisional.
The NHL would join Major League Baseball in restricting games to regional opponents. The NBA plans to have all of its teams play each other during its season. [NHL.com 12.18]
Plus: NBA Christmas announcers, Australian Open, Rinaldi
ESPN plans to have its lead NBA broadcast team of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy on-site for the scheduled Mavericks-Lakers Christmas Day game on Friday. Mark Jones and Doris Burke would also be on-site for Nets-Celtics earlier in the day, and Dave Pasch would call Warriors-Bucks on-site with partner Hubie Brown working from his home. As previously noted, Ryan Ruocco and Richard Jefferson would work both Pelicans-Heat and Clippers-Nuggets from their respective homes. … The Australian Open tennis tournament has officially been pushed back to February 8-21, three weeks later than originally-scheduled. … ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, who is leaving for Fox Sports, is scheduled to work his final ESPN event on January 1 and officially start with Fox the following day, according to The Athletic. [ESPN PR 12.16, AAP via ESPN.com 12.16, The Athletic 12.17]
