ESPN2 to air 12-hour esports block

A live telecast of the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix will headline ESPN2's 12-hour marathon of esports programming on Sunday. With the sports world largely shuttered due to the coronavirus, the ESPN family of networks have been turning to alternative programming to fill the air time. On Sunday, the focus shifts to esports.

The virtual F1 race will include regular circuit drivers Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, George Russell, Lando Norris and Nicholas Latifi, among others. The event will be contested on an electronic version of Melbourne's Albert Park, which would have been the site of the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. On March 22, Guanyu Zhou won the F1 Esports Bahrain Virtual Grand Prix, the series' first online competition.

ESPN2 will also have live coverage of the continuation of the first round of the NBA 2K Players Tournament, with NBA players on the controllers. The matchups that will air are Montrezl Harrell vs. Domantas Sabonis, Donovan Mitchell vs. Rui Hachimura, Devin Booker vs. Michael Porter Jr., and Andre Drummond vs. DeMarcus Cousins. Other titles that will be featured on the Sunday broadcast schedule are Madden, Rocket League and Apex Legends.

The full ESPN2 schedule of esports events on Sunday (times ET): Noon -- Madden NFL20 Classic, from August 2019

1 p.m. -- Madden NFL20 Club Championship, from December 2019 2 p.m. -- Madden NFL20 Challenge, from February 2020

3 p.m. -- F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix, live 4:30 p.m. -- Season 8 Rocket League World Championship, from December 2019

6 p.m. -- NBA 2K Players Tournament, live 10 p.m. -- EXP Apex Legends Pro-Am, from July 2019

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)