Friday night’s ESPN2 telecast between Texas and LSU drew 124,000 viewers, according to ShowBuzzDaily.com
The game battled rain delays and did not finish on television (there was an overnight delay in the middle of the 7th inning), which certainly affected the numbers. This is the first primetime Friday night game of the year on ESPN or ESPN2, and the first time in a long while that the first regular-season softball game has aired in early March, so it is hard to compare to past years.
In each of the last two seasons, softball’s first nationally-televised game on either ESPN or ESPN2 has been in early February, on a Sunday night from the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. That tournament has been a big television draw in its first two years of existence.
A Florida State/UCLA game from Clearwater in 2020 drew 380,000 viewers in a Sunday primetime slot, while the 2019 matchup between Florida State and Tennessee brought in 291,000 viewers in a slot that was centered in Valentine’s weekend.
ESPN’s television coverage ramps up this weekend on the ACC, SEC, and Longhorn Networks, with Megan Willis; Kayla Braud; Erin Miller; Carol Bruggeman; and Jenny Dalton-HIll making their season debuts in the booth.
The full weekend television schedule is shown below.
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Fri, Mar 12
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2 p.m.
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Tarleton State at No. 11 Texas
Tyler Denning, Megan Willis |
Longhorn Network
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4:30 p.m.
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Texas Southern at No. 11 Texas
Tyler Denning, Megan Willis |
Longhorn Network
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5 p.m.
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No. 15 Virginia Tech at NC State
Mark Neely, Amanda Scarborough |
ACC Network
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10:30 p.m.
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Texas Southern vs. Tarleton State*
Tyler Denning, Megan Willis |
Longhorn Network
(tape delay) |
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Sat, Mar 13
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Noon
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Virginia Tech at NC State
Mark Neely, Amanda Scarborough |
ACC Network
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Noon
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BYU at Tarleton State
Tyler Denning, Erin Miller |
Longhorn Network
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1 p.m.
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No. 12 LSU at No. 17 Tennessee
Eric Frede, Michele Smith |
SEC Network
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2 p.m.
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Notre Dame at North Carolina
Mike Couzens, Carol Bruggeman |
ACC Network
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2:30 p.m.
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BYU at No. 11 Texas
Tyler Denning, Erin Miller |
Longhorn Network
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5 p.m.
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Tarleton State at No. 11 Texas
Tyler Denning, Erin Miller |
Longhorn Network
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6 p.m.
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Mississippi State at Ole Miss
Kevin Fitzgerald, Kayla Braud |
SEC Network
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Sun, Mar 14
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1 p.m.
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No. 19 Arkansas at No. 20 South Carolina
Pam Ward, Jenny Dalton-Hill |
SEC Network
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2 p.m.
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No. 15 Virginia Tech at NC State
Mark Neely, Amanda Scarborough |
ACC Network
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3 p.m.
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No. 4 Alabama at No. 22 Auburn
Eric Frede, Michele Smith |
SEC Network
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5 p.m.
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Mississippi State at Ole Miss
Kevin Fitzgerald, Kayla Braud |
SEC Network
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