A torrent of rain and thunderstorms ripped through Omaha, Neb. Wednesday night, causing the most important college baseball game of the year to be postponed until Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPNU, which reaches just 70.6 million homes.
Here’s why the most important college baseball game of the year is on ESPNU in the middle of the day
ESPN is under contract to show Wimbledon and the Euro Cup.
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
If early afternoon on a third-tier ESPN outlet seems a strange time and place for such an anticipated event, you're not alone. ESPN had little say on the updated start time and broadcast arrangement, according to Sports Business Daily.
ESPN proper is under contract to show Wimbledon in the same time slot, while ESPN2 will be airing the Poland-Portugal matchup of the 2016 Euro Cup.
Tournament representatives also consulted meteorologists, who predict more foul weather Thursday night. Instead of negotiating with the odds of another rainout, the NCAA elected to bump the first pitch to the early afternoon.
The skies cleared in Omaha around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, which could have granted a first pitch time of 11:15, but NCAA representatives foresaw the game ending around 3 a.m. After an official delay of two hours 23 minutes, the postponement was announced at 10:31 p.m.
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