This week is a busy one for sports television. There’s Game 7 in the NBA Western Conference Finals, then the NBA Finals, the NHL Stanley Cup Final, the start of Copa America, the final week of the French Open, baseball and plenty of motorsports to go around.
Let’s take a look at what’s in store for sports viewing this week.
NBA
We have a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals on Monday. The winner of Oklahoma City-Golden State advances to the NBA Finals against Cleveland. TNT will air Game 7 and it will be its last game of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. Marv Albert and Chris Webber call the game at 9 p.m. ET.
That will lead to the NBA Finals which will begin on Thursday on ABC at 9 p.m. ET. That will be the only game this week. If the Finals go the entire 7 games, they’ll run over an 18-day period. But we’ll get into that next week. ESPN’s Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy call the Finals on ABC.
NHL
The Stanley Cup Final begins on Monday with the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks facing off. The NHL has the misfortune of going up against Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, but that will be the only conflict with the Association.
NBC and NBCSN will air the games, but this is where it gets a little quirky. NBC will televise Monday’s Game 1 while NBCSN will air Game 2 on Wednesday. After two games, if the series is tied, NBC will air Saturday’s Game 3, then it’s back to NBCSN for Game 4 the next week, but if it’s 2-0 either way, NBCSN will air Game 3 and NBC will take Game 4.
This is to ensure that a Cup-clinching game will air on NBC, but it’s a little weird to have a contingency for Game 3 depending on the outcome of the first two games.
Liam McHugh will the host and he’ll be joined by analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury. NBC will have sets outside Consol Energy and SAP Arenas in Pittsburgh and San Jose, respectively. Kathryn Tappen and Dave Briggs will front those desks with Brian Boucher, Anson Carter and Jeremy Roenick alongside.
Calling the games will be Mike Emrick, Ed Olczyk and Pierre McGuire.
Here’s the schedule for the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final:
| Date | Coverage | Network | Time | Commentators |
| Mon., May 30 | Game 1 – San Jose at Pittsburgh | NBC | 8 p.m. | Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire |
| Wed., June 1 | Game 2 – San Jose at Pittsburgh | NBCSN | 8 p.m. | Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire |
| Sat., June 4 | Game 3 – Pittsburgh at San Jose | NBC or NBCSN^ | 8 p.m. | Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire |
TENNIS
The French Open gets into the nitty gritty this week as the second Grand Slam tournament of the year will crown a champion. Tennis Channel and NBC combine to air the action beginning with the Round of 16 today and tomorrow, then into the quarterfinals and the women’s semifinals on Thursday and the men’s semis on Friday.
NBC will again pull the dreaded tape delay for one women’s semi and one men’s semifinal on Thursday and Friday respectively at 11 a.m. in all time zones, but the added attraction here is that NBCSN will be simulcasting NBC’s coverage at 11 a.m. ET so viewers in the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones will be able to watch live. For those stuck with NBC in those areas, they’ll have to watch on tape delay.
Here’s the schedule:
Monday, May 30: 5 a.m.-3 p.m., Round of 16 — Tennis Channel
Monday, May 30: noon-3 p.m. (all times zones, live ET only), Round of 16 — NBC
Tuesday, May 31: 7 a.m.-1 p.m., Quarterfinals — Tennis Channel
Wednesday, June 1: 7 a.m.-1 p.m., Quarterfinals — Tennis Channel
Thursday, June 2: 6 a.m.-2 p.m., Mixed Doubles Final/Women’s Singles Semifinals — Tennis Channel
Thursday, June 2: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (all times zones, live ET only), Women’s Semifinals — NBC
Friday, June 3: 6 a.m.-11 a.m., Men’s Singles Semifinal — Tennis Channel
Friday, June 3: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (all times zones, live ET only), Men’s Singles Semifinal — NBC
Friday, June 3: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (live entire country), Men’s Singles Semifinal — NBCSN
Saturday, June 4: 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Women’s Singles Final — NBC
Sunday, June 5: 5:30-8 a.m., Women’s Doubles Final — NBCSN
Sunday, June 5: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Men’s Singles Final — NBC
Tennis Channel’s coverage is streamed online on the Tennis Channel Everywhere app, the outside courts at Roland Garros are also streamed, but on Tennis Channel Plus which requires a paid subscription. NBC/NBCSN’s coverage will be on the NBC Sports Live Extra app. Tennis Channel Everywhere and NBC Sports Live Extra require cable or satellite log-ins.
SOCCER
The Copa America Centenario tournament begins on Friday. Fox Sports/FS1/FS2 will air the games in English while Univision/UniMás/Univision Deportes will have the Spanish language rights. While Fox will showcase most of the games on FS1, Univision will simulcast the games on all three of its networks. The U.S. Men’s National Team will kick off the tournament on Friday hosting Columbia. Then there will be three games on Saturday. Here’s what’s on tap for this weekend:
| Fri 06/03/2016 | 09:30 PM | USA vs Colombia | Santa Clara, California | FS1/Univision/UniMás/Univision Deportes |
| Sat 06/04/2016 | 05:00 PM | Costa Rica vs Paraguay | Orlando, Florida | FOX/Univision/UniMás/Univision Deportes |
| Sat 06/04/2016 | 07:30 PM | Haiti vs Peru | Seattle, Washington | FS2/Univision/UniMás/Univision Deportes |
| Sat 06/04/2016 | 10:00 PM | Brazil vs Ecuador | Pasadena, California | FS1/Univision/UniMás/Univision Deportes |
Fox’s announcing teams for Copa America will be as follows:
John Strong & Brad Friedel
JP Dellacamera & Stuart Holden
Justin Kutcher & Cobi Jones
Mark Followill & Cobi Jones
Mark Followill & Herculez Gomez
Reporters
Kyndra De St. Aubin
Jenny Taft
Francisco X. Rivera
FS1 will also air pregame shows before selected games and wrap up the night with Copa Tonight studio shows. Rob Stone will be studio host.
BASEBALL
ESPN will have an afternoon doubleheader for the Memorial Day holiday while MLB Network will have an evening game. And there’s Fox’s weekend games. We have the schedule below:
Monday, May 30
Chicago White Sox at New York Mets — ESPN, 1 p.m.
Minnesota at Oakland — ESPN, 4 p.m.
New York Yankees at Toronto or Pittsburgh at Miami — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 31
San Diego at Seattle or Houston at Arizona — MLB Network, 3:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Anaheim or Minnesota at Oakland — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
Wednesday, June 1
Chicago White Sox at New York Mets — MLB Network, 1 p.m. or Minnesota at Oakland — MLB Network, 3:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 2
San Francisco at Atlanta — MLB Network, noon or Arizona at Houston — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs — MLB Network, 3 p.m. (joined in progress)
Boston at Baltimore or Kansas City at Cleveland — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Friday, June 3
Arizona at Chicago Cubs — MLB Network, 2:20 p.m.
San Francisco at St. Louis or Seattle at Texas — MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 4
Arizona at Chicago Cubs — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Minnesota — FS1, 4 p.m.
Kansas City at Cleveland or New York Yankees at Baltimore or San Francisco at St. Louis — Fox, 7:15 p.m.
Atlanta at Los Angeles or Colorado at San Diego — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
MOTORSPORTS
NASCAR heads to Pocono this week after spending two weeks in Charlotte. It’ll have both Xfinity and Sprint Cup races at the venue.
Fox will air the Xfinity race this Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
IndyCar will be in Detroit for the Detroit Grand Prix. ABC will air the dual races on Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET
COLLEGE SPORTS
The NCAA Spring Championships are really ramping up into high gear as several sports crossover into a busy period.
The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship pits Maryland vs. North Carolina on Monday. ESPN2 carries the game live from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia at 1 p.m. ET.
This week marks the beginning of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. ESPNU has the Baseball Selection Special at noon ET on Monday, then the double elimination Regional portion of the tournament begins on Friday on the networks of ESPN. Probably the best way to watch is through the ESPN Bases Loaded channel which will begin its whiparound coverage on Friday. ESPNU will simulcast its coverage Friday at 3 p.m. ET
And for softball, the Women’s College World Series begins Thursday in Oklahoma City from ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. ESPN will carry the first two games at noon and 2:30 p.m. ET with coverage throughout the weekend. Here’s the schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Thu, June 2 | Noon | Women’s College World Series: Game 1 | ESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 2 | ESPN | |
| 7 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 3 | ESPN2 | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 4 | ESPN2 | |
| Fri, June 3 | 7 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 5 | ESPN2 |
| 9:30 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 6 | ESPN2 | |
| Sat, June 4 | Noon | Women’s College World Series: Game 7 | ESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 8 | ESPN | |
| 7 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 9 | ESPN2 | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Women’s College World Series: Game 10 | ESPN2 |
And that will wrap up our preview for this week.
