March Madness Brackets Get Set, NWSL Kicks Off: What’s on This Weekend in TV Sports (March 16-17)

Maitane Lopez #77 of Gotham FC defending against Rose Lavelle #16 of OL Reign during NWSL Cup Final game between NJ/NY Gotham City FC and OL Reign at Snapdragon Stadium on November 11, 2023 in San Diego, California
Gotham FC and OL Reign met in last year's NWSL Cup Final. (Image credit: Michael Janosz/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The National Women's Soccer League launches a new season, and brackets are set for the 2024 March Madness college basketball tournaments during a busy weekend of live TV sports events.

After a weekend of men’s conference tournament action, March Madness will officially kick off Sunday night with CBS’s live airing of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament selection show, and ESPN’s live telecast of the women’s college basketball tournament selection show. 

On the soccer field, the NWSL will open up its 12th season on Saturday with ABC airing the Portland Thorns FC-Kansas City Current match. Also on Saturday, Fox will televise the Major League Soccer matchup between the Colorado Rapids and the Seattle Sounders FC. In addition, Peacock and USA Network will air a combined four Premier League games over the weekend.

In the NBA, ABC’s Saturday primetime telecast will feature a matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday, ABC will televise the Phoenix Suns-Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets-Dallas Mavericks games.

On the links, NBC will televise the final rounds of the PGA Players Championship tournament, while on the bowling lanes, Fox on Sunday will air coverage from the PBA All-Star Weekend. 

On the ice, ABC on Saturday afternoon will air the NY Rangers-Pittsburgh Penguins game, while TNT on Sunday will televise a doubleheader featuring the NY Islanders-NY Rangers and New Jersey Devils-Vegas Golden Knights contests.

Fox on Sunday will televise the NASCAR Cup Food City 500 race. 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.