We’ve survived the first full week of Fox Sports One and the premiere of new shows. We have another premiere this week, but this one on ESPN2. In addition, we get the first full week of college football as the new season begins in earnest on Thursday. Not only that, the U.S. Open gets underway in Flushing, NY and it’s the final week of the NFL preseason so as the sports begin to really overlap, following the sports media really ramps up.
Here’s what we have for you.
As usual, all times listed are Eastern
TELEVISION
Monday marks the premiere of the new Keith Olbermann show on ESPN2. Titled “Olbermann,” the show is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. today, however with the U.S. Open also on ESPN2, there’s the potential for overruns not just today, but for the first two weeks.
What we know about the show is that it will have a monologue, interviews and a look at the stories of the day. For those who think the show will be political-driven, there’s the possibility of some especially if it pertains to sports, but Olbermann says he won’t be seeking to set a tone for politics. We shall see. And for the original reports that new ESPN’er Nate Silver will have a role on Olbermann’s show, that appears not to be the case.
With college football starting this week, there are a lot of debuts and premieres.
ESPN’s College GameDay returns Saturday and the show will be live in Atlanta in anticipation of the Virginia Tech-Alabama game from the Georgia Dome which will be aired later that day on ESPN. The regular cast is back. One difference, the show will begin at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN. The first hour had originally aired on ESPNU with the last two hours on the ESPN Mothership. Now all three hours will be on ESPN. This week’s edition with Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Samantha Ponder, David Pollack and Tom Rinaldi will be an expanded four hour edition. The rest of the season will be three hours.
Dan Hicks makes his debut as NBC’s Notre Dame play-by-play man on Saturday as the Fighting Irish host Temple at 3:30 p.m. In addition, NBC Sports Group begins a regular pregame show a half-hour before each Notre Dame home game. Liam McHugh will be the host live from Notre Dame Stadium. Doug Flutie and Hines Ward join McHugh from the stadium. After this week’s edition which airs on NBC, all pregame shows will be on NBCSN.
Fox College Saturday debuts on Fox Sports 1 with Erin Andrews hosting. That show will begin at 10 a.m. ET. She’ll be joined by Joel Klatt, Eddie George, Petros Papadakis, the polarizing Clay Travis and rules analyst Mike Pereira. Fox’s studio for primetime football on the Fox mothership will be Rob Stone, Eddie George and Joel Klatt and this has the potential to be a very good team.
Let’s check what else is happening this week.
AUTO RACING
IndyCar
Grand Prix of Baltimore on NBCSN, Sunday, September 1, 2 p.m.
NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series
Chevrolet Silverado 250 — Sunday, September 1 on Fox Sports 1 at 2 p.m.
Nationwide Series
Something Something Something 300 — Saturday, August 31, ESPN2, 8 p.m.
Sprint Cup Series
Advocare 500 — Sunday, September 1, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Here are some of the games of note this week:
Thursday, August 29
North Carolina at South Carolina — ESPN, 6 p.m.
Utah State at Utah — Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m.
Mississippi at Vanderbilt — ESPN, 9:15 p.m.
USC at Hawaii — CBS Sports Network, 11 p.m.
Friday, August 30
Texas Tech at SMU — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
UMass at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network, noon
Rice at Texas A&M — ESPN, 1 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State at Houston or Syracuse at Penn State at East Rutherford, NJ — ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Temple at Notre Dame — NBC, 3:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech vs. Alabama at Atlanta, GA — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Miami (OH) at Marshall — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Georgia at Clemson — ABC, 8 p.m.
LSU vs. TCU at Arlington, TX — ESPN, 9 p.m.
Boise State at Washington — Fox Sports 1, 10 p.m.
Nevada at Washington — Pac-12 Networks, 10 p.m.
Northwester at Cal — ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
Ohio at Louisville — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Colorado vs. Colorado State at Denver — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
One of the biggest rivalries in global sports is Chelsea vs. Manchester United and the two clubs renew their acquaintances and hatred on Monday at Old Trafford. Monday is the Summer Bank Holiday in the UK meaning banks and businesses have the day off so many fans will have had the opportunity to get ready for the game. NBCSN has the game live at 3 p.m. ET on Monday. And on Saturday in Round 3 of the EPL, NBCSN has its usual doubleheader at 7:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET and NBC joins in with one game at 12:30 p.m.
For Sunday, NBCSN has another twinbill with Liverpool hosting Man. United and Arsenal taking on Tottenham Hotspur.
The schedule and channel assignments.
Monday, August 26
Manchester United vs. Chelsea — NBCSN, 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
Premier League Live — NBCSN, 8 a.m.
Manchester City vs. Hull City — NBCSN, 7:45 a.m.
Newcastle vs. Fulham — NBCSN, 10 a.m.
Cardiff vs. Everton — Premier League Extra Time, 10 a.m.
Norwich vs. Southampton — Premier League Extra Time, 10 a.m.
West Bromwich vs. Swansea — Premier League Extra Time, 10 a.m.
West Ham United vs. Stoke City — Premier League Extra Time, 10 a.m.
Crystal Palace vs. Sunderland — NBC, 12:30 p.m.
Match the Day — NBCSN, 11 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
Premier League Live — NBCSN, 8 a.m.
Liverpool vs. Manchester United — NBCSN/Telemundo, 8:30 a.m.
Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur — NBCSN/mun2, 11 a.m.
Premier League Goal Zone — NBCSN, 1 p.m.
Match of the Day II — NBCSN, 11 p.m.
GOLF
The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs continues this week with the Deutsche Bank Championships at the TPC Boston in Norton, MA. Unlike the other PGA Tournaments which run Thursday-Sunday, this one runs Friday through Monday for the Labor Day holiday. CBS which aired much of the PGA Tour since the U.S. Open gives way to NBC which will take the FedEx Cup the rest of the way until the Tour Championship in Atlanta next month. Golf Channel has the first two rounds on Friday and Saturday, NBC has the final two rounds on Sunday and Monday.
The LPGA heads to the Great Northwest for the Safeway Classic which Golf Channel will air live.
In addition, Golf Channel has coverage of the Champions, European and Web.com Tours.
Here’s the coverage plans for Golf Channel for the LPGA and PGA Tours:
Thursday, August 29
LPGA Safeway Classic, 1st Round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, August 30
PGA Deutsche Bank Championship, 1st Round — Golf Channel, 3 p.m.
LPGA Safeway Classic, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
PGA Deutsche Bank Championship, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 3 p.m.
LPGA Safeway Classic, 3rd Round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
PGA Deutshe Bank Championship, 3rd Round — Golf Channel, 1 p.m./NBC, 3 p.m.
LPGA Safeway Classic, Final Round — Golf Channel, 7 p.m.
Monday, September 2
PGA Deutsche Bank Championship, Final Round — Golf Channel, noon/NBC, 2 p.m.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Two events this week for UFC. One is the Fox Sports 1 Fight Night on Wednesday, Condit vs. Kampmann 2 at 8 p.m. ET. And the other is UFC 164 which is Henderson vs. Pettis on pay per view.
MLB
The Baltimore Orioles are featured five times this week on various regional and national broadcasts between ESPN, MLB Network and TBS. This is one of those rare weeks where Fox does not have a game. Let’s check the schedule for MLB among the national TV partners.
Monday, August 26
Cincinnati at St. Louis — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, August 27
Cincinnati at St. Louis — MLB Network, 8:15 p.m. or San Francisco at Colorado — MLB Network, 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 28
Baltimore at Boston — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Thursday, August 29
Oakland at Detroit or Anaheim Angels at Tampa Bay — MLB Network, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Atlanta or Baltimore at Boston — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Friday, August 30
Baltimore at New York Yankees or St. Louis at Pittsburgh — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
Baltimore at New York Yankees or Kansas City at Toronto — MLB Network, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs — MLB Network, 4 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh or Cleveland at Detroit — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
Baltimore at New York Yankees — TBS, 1 p.m.
New York Mets at Washington — ESPN2, 8 p.m.
MLS
Friday, August 30
Real Salt Lake vs. Portland — NBCSN, 10 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
New York vs. DC United — NBCSN, 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
Chicago vs. Houston — UniMás, 3 p.m.
NFL PRESEASON
This is the final week of the NFL preseason before the games start up for real next week. All teams will play on Thursday. The only national games will be on NFL Network.
Thursday, August 29
New York Giants at New England — NFL Network, 7:30 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego — NFL Network, 10:30 p.m. (joined in progress)
TENNIS
It’s the World’s Toughest Tennis as the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, takes place at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. Monday is when the tournament begins. ESPN2 and Tennis Channel will have weekday coverage beginning at 11 a.m. and running until the conclusion at night, scheduled for 11 p.m., but as we know, night matches have a tendency to run long so take any end time of 11 p.m. this week with a grain of salt.
Tennis Channel begins its coverage during the first week at 11 a.m. ET with the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium and then coverage of the outer courts at 1 p.m. Overall, Tennis Channel will offer 75 hours of live coverage and through its U.S. Open Tonight program, it will air a total of 240 hours of matches. Bill Macatee will be the lead announcer and be joined by Ian Eagle and Ted Robinson on play-by-play. Analysts will include Jim Courier, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport, Rennae Stubbs, Mary Carillo and Justin Gimbelstob. U.S. Open Tonight will be hosted by Brett Haber with Tracy Austin and Mark Knowles. Tennis Channel’s coverage shifts to primetime on Saturday and Sunday.
ESPN2 will have the bulk of the coverage, 100 hours on TV and 400 through ESPN3. It’s projecting its coverage to begin at 1 p.m. on weekdays and ending at 11 p.m. ET. Matches starting after 7 p.m. ET will be titled “Primetime at the Open.” Studio hosts will be Chris McKendry, Hannah Storm and Mike Tirico. On play-by-play will be Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Mike Tirico, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill and Pam Shriver. Analysts include John McEnroe, Mary Jo Fernandez, Chris Evert, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe, Shriver and Cahill. Tom Rinaldi will offer reports and do play-by-play of selected matches. LZ Granderson will offer what is called “unique perspective.”
CBS will do weekend coverage starting at noon ET on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. Bill Macatee will be joined by John McEnroe and Mary Carillo. Ian Eagle will also call matches. CBS Sports Network will have coverage from the outer courts. Its programming will be led by Sam Gore and Andrew Catalon. Chanda Rubin and Taylor Dent will be the analysts. CBS Sports Network starts its coverage at 11 a.m.
Here’s the schedule for the first week.
Monday, August 26
First Round
Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
ESPN2, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Tuesday, August 27
First Round
Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
ESPN2, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Wednesday, August 28
First and Second Round
Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
ESPN2, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Thursday, August 29
Second Round
Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
ESPN2, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Friday, August 30
Second and Third Round
Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
ESPN2, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
Third Round
CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
CBS, noon – 6 p.m.
Tennis Channel, 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Sunday, September 1
Third Round/Round of 16
CBS/CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Tennis Channel, 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
The second leg of the playoffs will get underway on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday.
Tuesday, August 27
Arsenal vs. Fenerbahçe — Fox Sports 1, 2:30 pm.
PAOK vs. Shalke — Fox Sports 2, 2:30 p.m.
Austria Wien vs. Dinamo Zagreb — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.
Viktoria Plzen vs. Maribor — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 28
AC Milan vs. PSV Eindhoven — Fox Sports 1, 2:30 p.m.
Real Sociedad vs. Lyon — Fox Sports 2, 2:30 p.m.
Austria Wien vs. Dinamo Zagreb — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.
Celtic vs. Shakter Karagandy — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus, 2:30 p.m.
OTHER SPORTS
Horse Racing
The Summer at Saratoga Series continues on NBCSN. The Woodward Stakes, Bernard Baruch and Forego Stakes will be run Saturday at 4 p.m.
WNBA
Four games this week, all on NBA TV.
Tuesday, August 27
Connecticut Sun at Los Angeles Sparks — NBA TV, 10 p.m.
Wednesday, August 28
Washington Mystics at Atlanta Dream — NBA TV, 7 p.m.
Friday, August 30
Indiana Fever at New York Liberty — NBA TV, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 31
Connecticut Sun at Phoenix Mercury– NBA TV, 10 p.m.
And that is your look at the Week Ahead.
