Outside the Lines, ESPN’s flagship journalism magazine program, is returning to Saturday mornings for a new season beginning Feb. 19, airing at 9 a.m. ET.
The one-hour standalone program has been off the air since August, stepping aside for College GameDay during college football season. Daily “OTL” segments have continued airing during the 12 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter.
OTL was originally moved to Saturdays in January 2020 after the daily edition of the program was canceled in December 2019. But those plans were soon affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Saturday show went dark until February 2021.
Considered ESPN’s top journalism enterprise, Outside the Lines has moved around the network’s schedule several times during its existence. The show began in 1990 as a recurring prime-time special before moving to early Sunday mornings 10 years later. OTL then became a daily afternoon program in 2003 before getting pushed to Saturday mornings and daily segments on SportsCenter.
As he has since original host Bob Ley retired in 2019, Jeremy Schaap returns to anchor the Saturday OTL. The season debut is headlined by a story on the federal trial in which former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay faces accusations of providing pitcher Tyler Skaggs with illegal drugs. Skaggs died of an overdose in July 2019. Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young will also be featured and Schaap will have a commentary on Tom Brady.
According to ESPN’s official announcement, upcoming editions of OTL will look at Joe Paterno’s legacy, the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s major-league debut, conditions for migrant workers in Qatar leading up to the 2022 World Cup, a profile of Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, and robot umpires in professional baseball.
The new season of Outside the Lines premieres Saturday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. ET.