Editing SportsCenter (section)

== Overview and format ==
As of March 2023 , ''SportsCenter'' normally runs live at the following times:

* Weekdays: 7:00–8:00&nbsp;a.m.,  2:00–3:00&nbsp;p.m., 6:00–7:00&nbsp;p.m. and 11:00&nbsp;p.m.–1:00&nbsp;a.m. ET.
* Saturday: 7:00&nbsp;a.m.–9:00&nbsp;a.m., and 12:00&nbsp;am.–2:00&nbsp;a.m. ET.
* Sunday: 7:00–9:00&nbsp;a.m., and 11:00&nbsp;p.m.–12:30&nbsp;a.m. ET.

The program's runtime and starting time depend on the games' runtime. In case a game overlaps the starting time of any ''SportsCenter'' edition, it is occasionally moved to either ESPN2 or ESPNews (depending on whether one of the networks is carrying an event) until the event concludes. Conversely, ''SportsCenter'' may start early and run longer if the preceding event finishes early or [[breaking news|breaking sports news]] requires it.

Most editions of the show originate from a studio at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. However, the [[Scott Van Pelt]] edition of ''SportsCenter'' has been produced out of a studio in Washington, D.C., inside the [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] bureau since 2020, in the former studio of ''[[Around the Horn]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Scott |date=August 24, 2020  |title=ESPN's Scott Van Pelt to debut 'SportsCenter' from its new Washington home — with a D.C. feel |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/24/scott-van-pelt-sportscenter-dc/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dachman |first=Jason |date=2020-08-26 |title=ESPN Launches Slick New DC Studio for SportsCenter With Scott Van Pelt |language=en |work=Sports Video Group |url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/08/26/espn-launches-slick-new-dc-studio-for-sportscenter-with-scott-van-pelt/ |access-date=2023-01-03}}</ref> The 1&nbsp;a.m. Eastern edition of ''SportsCenter'' has been produced out of ESPN's Los Angeles Production Center at [[L.A. Live]] since 2009; that edition also is repeated during the overnight hours.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pucin |first=Diane |date=2009-04-07 |title=ESPN begins its era in L.A. |language=en-US |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-apr-07-sp-espn7-story.html |access-date=2023-01-03}}</ref>

ESPN also produces short 90-second capsules known as ''SportsCenter Right Now'', which air at select points within game telecasts on the network and sister broadcast network ABC to provide updates of other ongoing and recently concluded sporting events.

In addition to providing game highlights and news from the day in sports outside of the scheduled slate of games (including team player and management transactions, injury reports and other news), the program also features live reports from sites of sports events scheduled to be held or already concluded, extensive analysis of completed and upcoming sports events from sport-specific analysts and special contributors, and feature segments providing interviews with players, coaches, and franchise management in the headlines. In addition to airing simulcasts or network-exclusive editions on sister networks [[ESPN2]] and [[ESPNews]], the program also produces short in-game updates during sports events aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and, until 2017, an interstitial play countdown segment for fellow network [[Disney XD]].

=== Conditions to showing highlights ===
Some sports leagues and organizations, including the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA), [[National Hockey League]] (NHL), and college athletic conferences that are members of the [[National Collegiate Athletics Association]] (NCAA) and the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics]] (NAIA), allow for brief highlights to be shown while a game is in progress. From 2006 to 2013, [[Major League Baseball]] only allowed ongoing game highlights to air during ''SportsCenter'' within the ''[[Baseball Tonight (MLB)|Baseball Tonight]] Extra'' segments in the broadcast. The [[National Football League]] (NFL) does not permit the use of highlights for games that are ongoing at all, outside of those featured within its own live game broadcasts on the league's broadcast partners.

ESPN is traditionally unable to air highlights of [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] events until after they have aired on [[Broadcast delay|tape-delay]] on [[Olympics on NBC|NBC]] (which currently holds the American rights to the Olympic Games through 2032) or its co-owned sister cable networks. ESPN began showing more Olympics highlights on-air and online beginning with the [[2006 Winter Olympics]], with the network obtaining these extended rights from NBC as part of the 2006 deal that saw ABC release [[Al Michaels]] from his contract, in order to join [[John Madden]] and key production personnel for the new ''[[NBC Sunday Night Football]]'' (this same deal also reverted rights to the Walt Disney-produced ''[[Oswald The Lucky Rabbit]]'' cartoons from [[Universal Pictures]], which originally distributed the shorts).<ref>[[Associated Press]] report, Jan. 18, 2006</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Stay 'tooned: Disney gets 'Oswald' for Al Michaels |work=ESPN.com |date=February 9, 2006 |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2324417}}</ref>

In addition, there are many anecdotal reports of various television networks (such as [[CBS Sports]], [[NBC Sports]], and [[beIN Sport]]) that will not release highlights of certain sporting events to ESPN, unless the originating U.S. broadcaster's name is displayed on-screen for the entire length of the highlight (for example, "Courtesy NBC Sports").

Starting in 2007 and until its final season of broadcasting in 2014, ESPN stopped displaying the actual name of the [[NASCAR]] [[Nationwide Series]] or [[Sprint Cup Series]] race during highlights of such events (for example, the "[[2009 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard|Allstate 400 at the Brickyard]]" was referred to as the "Brickyard 400 pres. by [[Golden Corral]]"), unless the title sponsor of the race is paid for to the network; a similar stipulation also applied to the network's [[IndyCar Series]] coverage until 2018.