The Sydney Kings get a preseason game in the US onto ESPN.
The other two NBA pre-season games against NBL teams will also be shown on ESPN.
Monday October 9 at 6am AEDT: Oklahoma City Thunder v Melbourne United
Saturday October 14 at 1pm AEDT: Phoenix Suns v Brisbane Bullets
ESPN has announced it will sack 150 staff in the latest round of job cuts. ESPN president John Skipper said in a statement the majority of the redundancies are in studio production, digital content, and technology.
ESPN Australia are using NBC’s feed of the Super Bowl, unlike last year when they used the World feed instead of FOX’s feed.
I’m guessing it’s because NBC broadcasts in 1080i. Last year Fox broadcast the game in 720p so ESPN took the NFL Network feed in 1080i.
Doesn’t ESPN broadcast in 720p?
Thanks for the correction. No wonder their Indycar coverage doesn’t look quite as nice as it did on Fox Sports AU.
Late response but yes, all Disney-owned channels are broadcast in 720p, including ABC.
ESPN today announced the line-up and schedule for the inaugural Sydney X Games on October 19-21. It will be shown around Australia on 7mate.
This will be the most comprehensive coverage in US Open tennis history. Australian Open and Wimbledon already have live TV coverage of every court during the tournament.
NBLxNBA Games Broadcast Live on ESPN
ESPN will broadcast six out of the seven NBLxNBA series games starting this Saturday when Melbourne United take on the Philadelphia 76ers.
Five NBL teams, including Melbourne United, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats, Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings will play a total of seven games against NBA teams in the 2018 preseason.
This marks the most games NBA teams will play against teams from an international league in a single preseason.
Melbourne will open the series when it plays Philadelphia, featuring Australians Ben Simmons and Jonah Bolden as well as former NBL head coach Brett Brown at the Wells Fargo Center.
NBL Owner and Executive Chairman Larry Kestelman said: “We’re delighted fans will be able to watch these games on ESPN. The increased number of games symbolises the continued strength of the NBL-NBA partnership and the growth of our league in Australia and New Zealand.
“This series continues to position the NBL as the second best league and entertainment product in the world outside the NBA.”
All games will also be live on NBA League Pass and available on delay on NBL TV with an All-Access Subscription.
Adelaide vs Utah will be the only game not featured on ESPN, with this game broadcast live on both NBA League Pass and NBL TV only.
Melbourne United v Philadelphia 76ers (Wells Fargo Center) Saturday 29th September, 9am
Perth Wildcats v Utah Jazz (Vivant Smart Home Arena) Sunday September 30, 11am
Sydney Kings v LA Clippers (Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu) Monday 1st October, 2.30pm
New Zealand Breakers v Phoenix Suns (Talking Stick Resort Arena) Thursday 4th October, 3pm NZST
Melbourne United vs Toronto Raptors (Scotiabank Arena) Saturday 6th October, 9am
Adelaide 36ers vs Utah Jazz (Vivint Smart Home Arena) Saturday 6th October, 10am
Perth Wildcats vs Denver Nuggets (Pepsi Center) Saturday 6th October, 11am
ESPN is the new home of the NHL with the first game aired being the All Star Skills competition.
It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll juggle covering both the NBA Playoffs/Finals & the Stanley Cup Playoffs/Final between April and June
Playoffs will be on ESPN2 with NBA on ESPN.
that is great news for an ice hockey fan like me! Even though ESPN covered NHL terribly fifteen years ago (with lots of ads and cutting out significant parts of the games to make way for more ads ie. ESPN promos repeated endlessly) it’s better than nothing! ESPN now has all four of the big American sporting leagues.
NHL All Star Skills Competition will be on ESPN at 1pm AEDT on Saturday
This has been a big week for ESPN - they showed their first UFC card on Sunday & they’ll begin their NHL deal on Saturday
ESPN has managed to secure rival car brands (Mercedes-Benz and Holden) as two of premier sponsors of its Super Bowl telecast.