SPORTS
John Ourand
•
April 1, 2025
An N.Y.-Philly Grudge Match for the Ages
The battle between the Yankees’ YES Network and Comcast is about to go nuclear, and it might even feature a Trump angle that no one saw coming.
John Ourand
•
March 28, 2025
The Oracle of Omaha
Now that he’s finally liberated from the Ari-verse, Patrick Whitesell and his new Silver Lake–backed $250 million investment platform are making moves, starting with an investment in a certain telegenic former QB’s production company.
Julia Alexander
•
March 24, 2025
Peacock’s R.S.N. Vulcan Chess
Peacock executives, like their counterparts at ESPN, seemingly want to find out if streaming can be television again by investing in local sports fandoms. If the early streaming wars were a race to see who could disrupt TV fastest, this next phase is a marathon to see who can reinvent it first.
John Ourand
•
March 21, 2025
DraftKings’ Content Bet Goes Bust
It’s a familiar story, old as time: A platform company decides it wants to take a whirl in the media business, hires up, brings in a big executive… and then decides it doesn’t want to be in the media business after all.
John Ourand
•
March 17, 2025
Are You Ready for Some Fox Reunion?
Two years out from broadcasting the Super Bowl, ESPN is yet again shaking up its truck—this time bringing in Fox hired gun Artie Kempner in a happy reunion with Troy and Buck. Coincidence?
John Ourand
•
March 14, 2025
Norby After McAfee
When veteran ESPN producer Norby Williamson took over production at Main Street Sports early this year, he had no intention of maintaining the R.S.N.s’ status quo. Today, he rolled out his plan for sports-specific production silos while recruiting four execs from Bristol. But can it all possibly work?
John Ourand
•
March 10, 2025
Bend It Like Berman, Part II
NWSL’s Jessica Berman returns to talk about her priorities for the 13th season: broadcast discoverability, cultural relevance, and the star power of the Triple Espresso. Not necessarily in that order.
John Ourand
•
March 7, 2025
Exiles on Main Street
As ESPN’s relationship with MLB continues to fray, Bristol executives are cozying up to Main Street Sports on a deal that will help the network stay close to the game that it has carried for the past 35 years. But the deal isn’t quite the “end around” that some have suggested.
John Ourand
•
February 28, 2025
Shanks and the Art of Motorsport Maintenance
Fox Sports C.E.O. Eric Shanks started his career working at the Indy 500. Now, his network is trying to leverage its NASCAR package with the rights to IndyCar. Can he restore the latter to its former glory?
John Ourand
•
February 25, 2025
Inside the Manfred-Pitaro Divorce
The play-by-play on the dissolution of Major League Baseball’s broadcasting partnership with ESPN.
John Ourand
•
February 21, 2025
Dude, Where’s My NASCAR? Part II
This year, NASCAR spread its races across five different media companies—everyone from Amazon Prime to The CW—testing fans’ loyalty, financial fitness, and scheduling awareness. After the grumbling stops, is it time to ask when enough is enough?
John Ourand
•
February 18, 2025
The NBA’s All-Star Hangover
Okay, so everyone hated on the gimmicky round-robin tournament—including Draymond Green on live television—but the stink around the game obscured other successes for the league.
John Ourand
•
February 14, 2025
ESPN & MLB Play Hardball
The worthies in Bristol are starting to feel that they’re wildly overpaying for Sunday Night Baseball, especially given Apple’s and Roku’s far more frugal deals, and they’re threatening to exercise their out clause. Meanwhile, Netflix, Amazon, and others are warming up in the bullpen.
John Ourand
•
February 11, 2025
ESPN and the NFL Enter Deal Heat
Once again, ESPN and the NFL are in renewed negotiations for the former to take on the latter’s media assets. What’s changed since the last time these dance partners played footsie? More linear decline, Flagship, and maybe the Draft going up for bidding, too.
John Ourand
•
February 7, 2025
And on the 18th Game, Goodell Rested
As I’ve previewed before, the NFL commissioner and the league have long fantasized about the billion-dollar possibilities of eliminating another preseason contest and adding an 18th regular season game. Murmurs emanating from New Orleans suggest that the public negotiations have begun.
John Ourand
•
February 4, 2025
The Secret Culprit in the Luka-A.D. Trade
You’re not going to believe it…
John Ourand
•
January 31, 2025
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the ACC
ESPN locked down its deal with the ACC, ensuring the league will avoid Pac-12 overreach problems and keep Clemson and Florida State in the fold. But the price ESPN paid proves its sports rights market is not a bonanza for everyone.