The series had aired on ESPN in some form since 1990, initially as a monthly newsmagazine hosted by Bob Ley, and later expanding into a weekly Sunday-morning program.

After a noticeable increase in ratings, ESPN decided to expand the program for thirty minutes to their Sunday morning lineup at 9:30 am ET, where the show covered one or two of the more notable sporting news stories of the week.

Following the addition of NFL Insiders to ESPN's schedule on August 5, 2013, the weekday OTL program (which by this point carried the same name as the Sunday series) began to be moved to air in the late afternoons on ESPN2 during the football season; it returns to the 3 p.m.

ET slot on ESPN after the Super Bowl and would air there until the start of training camp in August, with occasional moves to ESPNEWS depending on sporting events scheduled for ESPN2.

They include: Over the years, Outside the Lines has covered several Sports Emmy Award winning pieces such as Finding Bobby Fischer, Ben Comen, and Rainbow Man.

[6] Some of the other memorable pieces the show has covered include: Two Man Band (about Patrick Hughes, a blind member of the University of Louisville band and his dad), The Jason McElwain Story (about the autistic high school basketball manager who came into a game and scored 20 points), Athletes Carrying Guns (about whether it is appropriate for athletes to carry guns), Katrina's Impact on New Orleans (prior to the Saints' first game back in New Orleans) and Steroids impact on the Little Leagues (and how much they affect them).

The program has also featured exclusive interviews with newsmakers such as: President George W. Bush, Senators John McCain, Amy Klobuchar, Heidi Heitkamp, Pete Rose, Phil Jackson (after leaving the Lakers the first time) and the Army Rangers of Pat Tillman's platoon about what really happened.