A presidential interview on ESPN, an expanded NFL regular season schedule, more remote MLB broadcasts, and more.
ESPN to air interview of president
ESPN is set to air an interview of a sitting U.S. president for the first time since 2016 Wednesday night. The interview, conducted by Sage Steele, is set to debut on Wednesday’s 11 PM ET edition of SportsCenter on ESPN2. Portions would then air throughout ESPN’s scheduled Major League Baseball Opening Day games on Thursday. ESPN never interviewed the previous president, with whom it had a contentious relationship, but it did offer him the opportunity to fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket on-air during his first year in office. [ESPN]
NFL officially expands schedule
The NFL officially announced Tuesday that it is expanding its regular season schedule to 17 games per team effective this coming season. As a result, the regular season is scheduled to end as late as January 9 — the latest ending since the 9/11-altered 2001-02 season — and the Super Bowl will be pushed back to February 13. The Pro Bowl, if played, would be on the date originally set aside for the Super Bowl (February 6).
The expansion to 17 games had been widely expected.
As a result of the expanded, 18 week schedule, ESPN will get a Week 17 Monday Night Football game for the first time. ESPN’s new season-ending Saturday doubleheader — added as part of its new NFL media rights deal — would be in Week 18. [NFL PR 3.30, ESPN PR/Twitter 3.30]
ESPN’s A-Rod, Vasgersian, in studio to start MLB season
ESPN plans to have its lead Major League Baseball broadcast team of Alex Rodriguez and Matt Vasgersian work games remotely from the company’s Bristol, Conn., studios, as was the case last season. ESPN SVP/production and remote events Mark Gross said Wednesday that the “hope” is to eventually “move to the stadium … in the next few weeks.” ESPN did not broadcast a single game on-site during last year’s shortened MLB season, even during the playoffs. [ESPN PR 3.31]
Plus: Basketball HOF, NBA Draft, WNBA, FCS
ESPN is scheduled to air the months-delayed 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame Ceremony May 15 at 5:30 PM ET, the first time that it has carried the event since Michael Jordan was inducted in 2009. The 2020 ceremony had been anticipated for years due to Kobe Bryant’s eligibility for induction, but has taken far greater significance since his death. … ABC is scheduled to simulcast the first round of this year’s NBA Draft, which has been scheduled for July 29. The network was slated to carry draft coverage last year before the event was postponed to November. … ABC is scheduled to air a WNBA doubleheader May 15, in all likelihood the opening day of the season. It would be just the second WNBA doubleheader ever on a broadcast network. … The NCAA FCS National Championship is scheduled to air on ABC for the second-straight season on May 16 (2 PM ET). The network is also set to air an FCS semifinal for the first time on May 8 (3 PM). [ESPN PR, NBA; (h/t Magno Gomes)]
