ESPN is having to rethink how it broadcasts with most sports on coronavirus hiatus
Among the scheduled programming for Saturday on ESPN2, per its website, there was only one live-broadcast event: Formula 1 qualifying from Australia.
Unfortunately, Formula 1 announced Friday that it was suspending its racing schedule.
That leaves yet another hole in ESPN’s schedule.
With the postponement or cancellation of most of athletic events around the world because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the industry giant of sports broadcasting is having to rethink its programming.
“Our programming team is hard at work to fill the holes on our networks and we will provide updates when finalized,” Josh Krulewitz, ESPN’s vice president of communications, wrote in an email.
ESPN had been prepared to air men’s and women’s college basketball this weekend and the women’s NCAA Tournament when it began, along with NBA games. It also was set to broadcast 11 Major League Baseball games in the first four days of the regular season.
There are a few sports still playing games that will be broadcast in the United States, including Australia’s men’s and women’s soccer leagues, Mexico’s Liga MX, Australian Rules Football (men’s and women’s) and the Super Rugby league with teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
But as Sports Illustrated noted, those events will be on ESPN+, Fox Soccer+ or FS2. That leaves ESPN needing to fill programming on its main network and ESPN2.
How it will do that is still being determined. ESPN shared its schedule for Friday:
Krulewitz said ESPN can’t say for certain what it will be showing beyond Friday.
“We appreciate your patience as we work through modifications for the days ahead,” he wrote.
Fox Sports is also dealing with programming holes. It said in a statement: “Fox Sports’ priority, first and foremost, is the health and safety of everyone. We fully support our league partners and are actively working with them to navigate this evolving and unprecedented situation.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
