Sean McManus Explains How CBS Will Broadcast the NFL, Masters, and LSU-Alabama on Same Weekend

During a conference call with reporters today, CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus revealed how CBS will broadcast the NFL, Masters and SEC football during an action-packed sports weekend on November 14-15.

The biggest change from a traditional standpoint is the final round of the Masters will end between 2-2:45 p.m. ET on Sunday. CBS will then roll into it's NFL broadcast with games starting at 4-4:30 p.m. ET.

On Saturday, the SEC moved the start time of LSU-Alabama to 6 p.m. ET to accommodate CBS's broadcast of the third round of the Masters, which will end around 5:30 p.m. ET.

"I think it worked out really well for everybody," McManus said. "Everybody benefits. Everybody was cooperative. It's a really good example of how a partnership in the world of sports television can work out so everybody benefits."

The concessions from the NFL, Masters and SEC made this happen.

The Masters moved up the final round start time to 9 a.m. so it would end around 2:30 p.m. with enough time for a playoff to be broadcast if need be. (They actually played the final round at around the same time in 2019 because of an impending storm, so CBS does have experience with the earlier time slot.)

The NFL gave CBS all afternoon games to broadcast on Sunday day so it wouldn't have to choose between the Masters and NFL during the 1 p.m. start times.

The SEC pushed back its marquee Saturday afternoon game between LSU and Alabama to 6 p.m. ET so CBS could broadcast the third round of the Masters.

McManus said all three broadcasts should benefit from having marquee sporting events rolling right into one another.

"The word partner is thrown around a lot in this industry. but I think this really was a good example of partnership," McManus said. "Everyone gave a little bit at the office to accomplish this."