A number of networks yesterday made the decision to pivot away from sports coverage on their main broadcast channels to instead cover the "breaking news about President Joe Biden withdrawing from the presidential race." NASCAR Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was scheduled to be broadcast on NBC, but viewers "who tuned into the network found something else." NBC made the decision to "briefly switch the telecast to USA Network," and the race also "finished on USA Network after the red flag stoppage, again because of the breaking news" (AP, 7/21).
At Fox, the decision was made to "bump" a Round of 32 game in The Basketball Tournament, which instead "only aired on the Fox Sports app and FoxSports.com for much of the contest." At CBS, the LPGA Dana Open tournament "shifted to CBSSports.com and Paramount+." And at ABC, the "much-hyped" NFL FLAG Championships "got bumped to ESPN2 (thanks to NBA Summer League games on ESPN)" (AWFUL ANNOUNCING, 7/21).
