SPORTS
John Ourand
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December 8, 2025
TNT Sports’s No Man’s Land
No matter which company wins the battle for parentco WBD, TNT Sports could face an unappetizing future. The leagues may feel the pain, too.
John Ourand
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December 4, 2025
The Apple TV of His Eye
Amid revisions to MLS’s controversial deal with Apple, commissioner Don Garber is defiantly proud of the partnership that will go a long way to defining his legacy in sports media.
4 Nations & A Funeral
As audience attention continues to crater and traditional all-star formats wane, leagues and their broadcast partners are doubling down on new, gimmicky midseason spectacles. Is any of it working?
John Ourand
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December 1, 2025
Hell or High Walter
As the Lakers’ regional sports network hits the market, Charter is getting to work separating serious bidders from rubberneckers. Which category does new team majority owner Mark Walter fall into?
John Ourand
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November 24, 2025
The NFL’s Perfect Storm
With two marquee matchups on Thursday—and some favorable new accounting practices lifting its sails—the league could set regular season ratings records. Plus: notes on the EverWonder-LIV deal and a new college basketball tournament play.
John Ourand
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November 20, 2025
The Petitti Offensive
It’s been a rocky season for the Big Ten. Now comes word that media partner NBC is taking a long, hard look at its options for next year’s conference championship game.
Apple’s Red Card
It’s obvious why Apple decided to pay a premium to walk away from its 10-year, multibillion-dollar MLS deal several years ahead of schedule. But with a different dance partner, the league could see its footprint expand significantly in the U.S.
John Ourand
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November 17, 2025
With or Without YouTube TV
As the dust settles following the denouement of the Disney–YouTube TV deal, it’s increasingly clear that the next-gen distributor got a lot of what it wanted during its rash of negotiations this fall. And it’s only a matter of time until it fully eats up the sports business.
John Ourand
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November 13, 2025
YouTube TV’s Four Corners Offense
With the informal deadline of Thursday’s earnings in the rearview, YouTube TV and Disney are still negotiating to find a deal. But the open items—ingestion (quelle horreur!), the ESPN app, and obviously pricing—suggest the divergence in their endgames.
ESPN’s Bad Bet
The company’s splashy move into the app-based gambling market faced stiff headwinds from the start. In fact, it likely never stood a chance.
John Ourand
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November 10, 2025
Monday Night Stalemate
As the YouTube TV–ESPN standoff stretches into another week, it’s increasingly clear that the old rule of carriage dispute leverage is shifting. The question is no longer how long YouTube TV can hold out, but how long Disney can sit on its hands.
John Ourand & Julia Alexander
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November 6, 2025
The YouTube TV Offensive
As the YouTube TV–Disney rights feud stretches into its second weekend, a talmudic reading of the legacy behemoth’s leverage, the challenges posed by Google’s dry powder, and the various ways this battle could influence the next skirmish.
Iger & Goliath
The nearly week-old Disney–YouTube TV carriage dispute is arguably a microcosm of the broader challenges facing legacy mediacos as old-world distribution channels give way to streaming, and as social video eats the world.
John Ourand
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November 3, 2025
MLB’s Saturday Night Fever
News and notes on the latest fascinations and frenzies of the sports media business: Fox’s World Series numbers, the Disney–YouTube TV beef, and the roiling NBA gambling saga.
John Ourand
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October 30, 2025
Hans Solo
With more games in more markets airing with more partners than ever before, the NFL is constantly seeking to maximize its rabid domestic audience while minting new fans abroad. Hans Schroeder, the league’s media distribution chief, explains how it’s all working, and where on earth there’s still room for growth.
Zaz Sports Bundle Economics
A wide-ranging chat with renowned analyst Peter Supino about the auction for Warner Bros. Discovery, including the true value of WBD’s sports rights, the potential buyers most likely to bid on the motherlode, a few strange and overlooked aspects of the deal, and much more.
William D. Cohan
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October 27, 2025
A Fanatic’s Notes
Michael Rubin explains how his $31 billion company evolved from an e-commerce merchandiser into the third-largest sportsbook in the U.S., and why he’s in “no rush” for an exit.