Onion SportsDome is a parody

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 sports television show from the makers of The Onion

The Onion

The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...

. The show premiered on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. EST on Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 in the United States. It is seen in Canada on The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....

.

The show is designed as a parody of SportsCenter

SportsCenter

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...

 and ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

. Matt Walton

Matt Walton

Matthew R. Walton is an American stage, screen and television actor.-Early life:Walton was born and raised in rural New Jersey. His father was a lawyer and film enthusiast...

 and Matt Oberg play the co-anchors Alex Reiser and Mark Shepard, respectively. Melissa "Wellsy" Wells is portrayed by real-life sportscaster Danyelle Sargent

Danyelle Sargent

Danyelle Sargent-Musselman is an American sports television reporter.-Education and early career:She is a graduate of Florida State University and began her television career at WGXA, in Macon, GA....

. Gary Payton

Gary Payton

Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...

 and Ahmad Bradshaw

Ahmad Bradshaw

Ahmad Bradshaw is an American football running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Giants...

 appeared on the show.

On April 4, 2011, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

reported the show, having completed its original 10-episode runs, was on hiatus and replaced in the time-slot by Sports Show with Norm Macdonald

Sports Show with Norm Macdonald

Sports Show with Norm MacDonald was a sports comedy series which aired on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central from April 12, 2011 to June 7, 2011. The show lampoons the world of sports using Web videos and field segments. The show is hosted by comedian and former Saturday Night Live...

. On June 20, 2011, Deadline Hollywood confirmed that Comedy Central cancelled both SportsDome and Sports Show with Norm MacDonald.