ESPN, CBS, FOX and NBC announced their preseason NFL schedules on Tuesday without even menitoning that a lockout threatens the upcoming season.
If a lockout of the players union doesn't scuttle plans, the preseason schedule will kick off on August 7 with the Hall of Fame Game, in which the Super Bowl runner-up Chicago Bears will take on the St. Louis Rams. NBC will air it live at 8 p.m. ET.
NBC will also air the final televised preseason game, a matchup between New Orleans and Oakland, on Sunday, August 28.
ESPN will broadcast four preseason football games beginning Thursday, August 11, with the Seattle Seahawks going against the San Diego Chargers.
Other games include the New York Jets vs. the Houston Texans (Monday, August 15), Chicago vs. the New York Giants (Monday, August 22) and the Washington Redskins vs. the Baltimore Ravens (Thursday, August 25).
ESPN's regular-season Monday Night Football telecasts begin September 12.
Fox will carry three preseason games, on August 12 (Tampa Bay at Kansas City), 18 (Philadelphia at Pittsburgh) and 19 (Atlanta at Jacksonville).
CBS will broadcast two games in primetime — a match-up between the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts on Friday, August 26, followed the next night by a scrimmage between the New England Patriots and the Detroit Lions.
Of course, a collective-bargaining dispute between the owners and players looms over the entire 2011 season.
There is hope, however: On Monday, a federal court ordered league owners to return to the mediated bargaining table with the recently decertified players union.
