NFL Regular Season Debuts, U.S. Open Concludes: What’s on This Weekend in TV Sports (Sept. 7-8)

 Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions throws the ball during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs at Ford Field on January 14, 2024
Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions throws the ball during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs at Ford Field on January 14, 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2024 NFL regular season kickoff and the U.S. Open tennis tournament finals highlight a packed lineup of sports events airing during the first full weekend of September. 

The first NFL Sunday begins with regional afternoon coverage of games on Fox and CBS, followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the Detroit Lions, a rematch of the January 2024 NFL Wild Card Playoff game won by the Lions. 

The U.S. Open women’s finals between second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula will air Saturday on ESPN. ABC will televise the men’s finals on Sunday, featuring the winners of Friday's Jannik Sinner-Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz-Frances Tiafoe semifinal matches. 

In college football, top-ranked Georgia takes on Tennessee Tech on ESPN Plus, second-ranked Ohio State hosts Western Michigan on Big Ten Network, third-ranked Texas hosts No. 10 Michigan on Fox, fourth-ranked Alabama meets South Florida on ESPN and fifth-ranked Notre Dame hosts Northern Illinois on NBC.

Other games featuring ranked teams on tap for Saturday include No. 6 Ole Miss-Middle Tennessee (SEC Network), No. 7 Oregon-Boise State (Peacock), No. 8 Penn State-Bowling Green (Big Ten Network), and No. 9 Missouri-Buffalo (ESPN Plus),

On the soccer field, ESPN on Sunday will televise the NWSL Houston-NJ/NY match. 

On the baseball diamond, Roku on Sunday will stream the Tampa Bay Rays-Baltimore Orioles game. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball will feature Arizona Diamondbacks-Houston Astros.

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.