The North American Leagues Cup football, the Belgian Pro League, the Scottish Premiership, Major League Baseball, and the first NFL preseason friendly of 2024 will all be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN 2 from Friday, August 2 to Thursday, August 8.
ESPN
All times CAT
The first live action on ESPN arrives on the morning of Friday, August 2, as the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids clash in the Leagues Cup (04:30 LIVE on ESPN), while the evening brings a battle from the Belgian Pro League pitting Union Saint-Gilloise against Beerschot (20:45 LIVE on ESPN).
The afternoon of Saturday 3 August sees the first match from the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership, as Heart of Midlothian host Rangers at Tynecastle Stadium (13:30 LIVE on ESPN), before more Belgian Pro League action in the early evening when KRC Genk visit OH Leuven (18:15 LIVE on ESPN).
Rangers boss Philippe Clement believes his team’s tough preseason has put them in a great space to get off to a flying start in the Premiership: “I have chosen a lot of difficult games; I didn’t want to have a preparation where we were the kings of the preparation, and then you get surprised when you play the first league games.
“They all had to be all really big tests at the right moments, and that is the way to grow. If you make mistakes against these kinds of opponents, you pay, but we can learn from that to not make these mistakes moving forward.
“It is so important to have really good games, strong games, where the team is challenged in every sense. Week by week, we need to grow. We need to become better.”
More Leagues Cup football arrives on the morning of Sunday, 4 August, with Inter Miami heading to Mexico to tackle Tigres UANL (02:00 LIVE on ESPN), while the late afternoon of evening features Celtic vs. Kilmarnock from Scotland (17:30 LIVE on ESPN) and Atlanta United vs. Santos Laguna (22:00 LIVE on ESPN).
Glasgow Rangers image credit ESPN
ESPN 2
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The first National Football League (NFL) preseason match of 2024 arrives on the morning of Friday, August 2, on ESPN 2, as the Chicago Bears welcome the Houston Texans to the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio (02:00 LIVE on ESPN).
The Bears chose quarterback Caleb Williams as the overall number one draft pick, and coach Matt Eberflus says he certainly plans to let the 22-year-old “get some reps” in preseason matches, such as the one against Houston.
“We’ll take that week to week,” Eberflus said. “But there’s value in all the reps when you think about it because he’s going to be going against the [No. 1] defense. In preseason games, you don’t get all the looks sometimes that you would get during practice. So I think there’s equal value to going against the ones every single day and also getting some of those preseason reps as well.”
Saturday 3 August features a Belgian Pro League battle between Mechelen and Westerlo (16:00 LIVE on ESPN), as well as Major League Baseball (MLB) action, as the Milwaukee Brewers travel to take on the Washington Nationals (22:05 LIVE on ESPN).
Sunday 4 August brings more Belgian top-flight football, as Club Brugge visit Standard Liege (18:30 LIVE on ESPN), followed by the Texas Rangers hosting the Boston Red Sox in MLB (20:35 LIVE on ESPN).
The midweek of Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 August brings more MLB games, with the Chicago Cubs v Minnesota Twins (20:20 LIVE on ESPN) and Colorado Rockies v New York Mets (21:10 LIVE on ESPN).ESPN selected broadcast highlights
All times CAT
Friday 2 August
04:30: Leagues Cup, Portland Timbers v Colorado Rapids – LIVE on ESPN
20:45: Belgian Pro League, Union Saint-Gilloise v Beerschot – LIVE on ESPN
Saturday 3 August
13:30: Scottish Premiership, Heart of Midlothian v Rangers – LIVE on ESPN
18:15: Belgian Pro League, OH Leuven v KRC Genk – LIVE on ESPN
Sunday 4 August
02:00: Leagues Cup, Tigres UANL v Inter Miami – LIVE on ESPN
17:30: Scottish Premiership, Celtic v Kilmarnock – LIVE on ESPN
22:00: Leagues Cup, Atlanta United v Santos Laguna – LIVE on ESPN
ESPN 2 selected broadcast highlights
All times CAT
Friday 2 August
02:00: NFL Preseason, Chicago Bears v Houston Texans – LIVE on ESPN
Saturday 3 August
16:00: Belgian Pro League, Mechelen v Westerlo – LIVE on ESPN
22:05: MLB, Washington Nationals v Milwaukee Brewers – LIVE on ESPN
Sunday 4 August
18:30: Belgian Pro League, Standard Liege v Club Brugge – LIVE on ESPN
20:35: MLB, Texas Rangers v Boston Red Sox – LIVE on ESPN
Wednesday 7 August
20:20: MLB, Chicago Cubs v Minnesota Twins – LIVE on ESPN
Thursday 8 August
21:10: MLB, Colorado Rockies v New York Mets – LIVE on ESPN
