CBS cancels national broadcast of Bengals’ third preseason game

One Cincinnati Bengals preseason contest won’t air nationally.

[jwplayer fbbypsUl-ThvAeFxT]

The Cincinnati Bengals won’t have a national preseason game in 2020 — at least for now.

According to Local 12’s Jed DeMuesy, CBS informed broadcasters that it won’t air the originally scheduled preseason game between the Bengals and Atlanta Falcons on August 28.

DeMuesy noted the game itself isn’t canceled, but CBS cited “the NFL reducing their preseason schedule” as a reason.

As we’ve pointed out in the past, the Bengals’ current schedule of two preseason games can’t hold. The NFL wants every team to play at least one home game during the originally scheduled Weeks 2 and 3, which wouldn’t work because one of Cincinnati’s current opponents would have two away games. The current schedule could still get reshuffled to fix this.

And even if the schedule doesn’t get changed, the preseason could get canceled outright as talks between the NFLPA and NFL continue.

[vertical-gallery id=35474]