Since nobody's posted in this section, thought I would bring up a new topic.

I found this on a website with Nascar leaving,

When ESPN's George Bodenheimer was handed the reins at ABC Sports in 2003, he praised the sports division's "elegant" 40-year history. "It's one of the greatest assets in television sports history," he said. "We're going to obviously seek to maintain and enhance that."
Seven years later, not only has ABC Sports ceased to exist, but the replacement (ESPN on ABC) continues to shed sporting events. NASCAR is just the latest sports property to virtually vanish from ABC.
After airing 12 races each year from 2007-09, including the entire Chase for the Cup, ABC will air only three NASCAR races during the 2010 season, all on Saturday nights -- the Aug. 21 race from Bristol, the Sept. 11 race from Richmond, and the Oct. 16 race from Charlotte. The rest of ESPN/ABC's 17-race schedule will air on ESPN.
Only 15 NASCAR races will air on broadcast television in 2010. Once the FOX portion of the schedule ends in May, 20 of the remaining 23 races will air on cable.
This move comes on the heels of ABC airing just 15 regular season NBA games during the 2009-10 season -- the minimum allowed in the network's contract with the league. ESPN also plans to air the entire NBA Eastern Conference Finals, a departure from previous years when ABC would air 1 or 2 games.
ABC also gave up rights to the Rose Bowl to ESPN, and recent ESPN acquisitions -- including the rest of the Bowl Championship Series and the British Open -- have left out ABC entirely. And Monday Night Football famously left ABC for ESPN in '06.
In 2003, ABC aired the Super Bowl, Monday Night Football, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the entire Bowl Championship Series, the British Open, and the Indianapolis 500. Now, the network is left with just the NBA Finals, the Indianapolis 500, and three NASCAR races on the lowest rated night of the week.

People say NBC is ran bad with the nightime talkshow stuff, but maybe ABC is worse, are they trying to save money.

I will throw this out longshot, but maybe when the football contracts are up for bidding, maybe with the money ABC will have, at least I think they will have money, ABC bids with ESPN's help, to get an AFC or NFC package and then they would have ESPN announcers on everything and maybe the big thing, help ESPN get the Super Bowl, hope that never happens but you never know.

If not and probably not, then I wonder what ABC is thinking.

ABC now seems to be a women's network.

I hope ABC bids for the NFL package and pays extra by selling the fact that on Sunday at noon they will televise a game on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. This would mean that half the teams in the NFL are on national television every week(thursday night, four noon games, at least one 3pm game, sunday night, monday night) = 16/32 teams.

This is one of the reasons why I like college Saturdays better. If the game you are watching is a blowout you can switch to one of the other 5 or 6 good games that are on.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If Purdue was in the NFL youd like it better

and college football has 3-5 waves of games at 11, 2:30, 5-6, 8 and when Hawaii is good 10. On certain weekends the entire day of games is excellent.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Even though I still refer to them as ABC Sports, there's a reason why you see the likes of Mike Tirico, Stuart "Booyah Boy" Scott, Brent Musburger, John Saunders and other ESPN personalities, graphics & sports under the label ESPN on ABC. It not had to do with the fact that ESPN & ABC are owned by the Walt Disney Company, but it was supposedly more cost effective for ABC to utilize ESPN's worldwide resources when it comes to sports television.

I think what has happened is that ABC may be losing a lot of money airing what are basically ESPN productions, and the "alphabet network" themselves might soon get out of the sports business entirely in the next few years. Is it the economy? It might very well be, and I wouldn't be surprised if the story about ABC only airing 3 NASCAR "Chase for the Cup" races this fall is only the beginning. I also wouldn't be shocked if ESPN/ABC gets out of the NBA business when their contract expires. Sports is as much big business as it is about wins & losses, and I wouldn't be shocked if what you see on network TV changes considerably in the next several years.

I kinda of think ABC would be crazy to get out of the sports business if they end up doing so. I would think that is the best way to show the t.v. shows you have on your network. As much as NBC showed Chuck, FOX shows 24, American Idol, or Human Target, and CBS shows their shows, at least there getting them out there when people are watching and some of those people will watch those shows.

If it's economy, I guess it is what they had to do, my question is with them losing their sports, they will still have college football next year.

Just to come back to this, The ABC affiliates aren't happy about losing the sports.

The ongoing exodus of sporting events from ABC is beginning to take its toll on some of the network's affiliates.

Mediaweek reported on Sunday that some ABC affiliates are "boiling mad" over ABC shifting several sporting events to ESPN.

Over the next year alone, 8 NASCAR races that previously aired on ABC will move to ESPN, along with the British Open and the Rose Bowl. ABC has also reduced its NBA schedule in both the regular season and postseason, dropped all college basketball coverage except for the SEC Tournament, and dumped smaller sports such as the WNBA and MLS.

WSB-TV VP and GM Bill Hoffman told Mediaweek that the reduction of sporting events on ABC is "troubling." Hoffman: "Not only have we lost these sporting events, but now we also have to compete against those telecasts on ESPN. Nascar is a huge lifestyle in the South. It’s indigenous to the region. And now most of the live races on broadcast are gone."

ESPN is indeed the big beneficiary. The network is set to air the entire British Open, all but one race in NASCAR's Chase For the Cup, the entire NBA Eastern Conference Finals, and the entire Bowl Championship Series.

With the loss of the Chase for the Cup and the Rose Bowl, the only big time sporting events left on ABC are the NBA Finals, the World Cup and the Indianapolis 500.

Contrast this to 2003, when ABC aired the Super Bowl, Monday Night Football, the entire BCS, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the British Open (and a full slate of PGA Tour tournaments), college basketball, and the Indy 500.