SPORTS
John Ourand
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September 8, 2025
Mike & Tony’s Excellent Adventure
Even in ESPN’s anti-sentimental, multichannel, needle-mover era, the company is doubling down on the old-school curmudgeons who starred in its golden age. Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser are being rewarded with new three-year deals that might truly mark the beginning of the end of an amazing journey.
John Ourand
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September 4, 2025
YouTube’s Friday Night Lights
Yes, YouTube is streaming its first NFL game tomorrow from Brazil, and yes the NFL seems to be conceding to the long-inevitable march toward streaming—even embracing YouTubers like Dude Perfect. But don’t let that fool you. The NFL is still about the TV business, and business is still good.
When Will YouTube Win the Super Bowl?
Nothing produces more sports media agita than YouTube, whose sports endgame remains a mystery. But former YouTuber turned Octagon executive William Mao has some ideas about what might be coming next.
John Ourand
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August 28, 2025
The Carriage Trap
YouTube and Fox reached a deal Thursday night. But their unusual carriage spat had YouTube asking Fox to treat it like Amazon, while Fox insisted the real comp should be Charter or DirecTV. The stakes of this battle could impact YouTube TV’s coming deals with NBCU and Disney, too.
Area Man Scores League Rights
We’ve entered a brave new world in which individual YouTube creators are signing deals with leagues for limited sports rights—perhaps foreshadowing an era in which viewers get to choose from 1,000 different Manningcasts.
John Ourand
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August 25, 2025
Crossing Jordon
A spirited, mediated, and unsanctioned debate between two of college football’s leading analysts over the viability of Bill Belichick at UNC, the potential pitfalls of recruiting a head coach from the professional ranks, the never-ending Jordon Hudson intrigue, and much more.
John Ourand
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August 21, 2025
Déjà Venu
When the opening day cheers subside for ESPN’s new streamer, some of the distributors who helped build the poky cable channel into a sports juggernaut may worry they’ll end up with Venu by another name.
ESPN Meets Gen A.D.D.
As it prepares to launch its long-awaited streamer, ESPN is looking to combine every facet of the fan experience—live games, news, fantasy, and sports betting—all in one app, the first step toward rebuilding its influence in an always-on, attention-shattered era.
John Ourand
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August 18, 2025
A Major League Mess
Baseball is facing a generational challenge amid labor unrest, the salary cap debate, Rob Manfred’s search for a new rights deal, and an industry-wide reckoning with the death of the R.S.N.s. ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan has a few thoughts on how it might all shake out…
John Ourand
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August 14, 2025
The Berson Offensive
After a quiet decade of bidding activity—passing on the NBA, NHL, NASCAR, etcetera—CBS Sports president David Berson is ready to spend his Ellisonbucks. UFC was just the opening statement.
Ellison, Ari & The Power of CBS
Paramount’s seven-year, $7.7 billion UFC deal gave David Ellison a more compelling pitch for Par+ users, while Ari Emanuel’s UFC now has exposure far beyond the ESPN+ app and pay-per-view’s walled garden. But who got a better deal?
John Ourand
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August 11, 2025
Ellison Goes on Offense
A couple days into his new gig, David Ellison announced his transformational $7.7 billion UFC deal. Sure, it won’t make Paramount+ profitable, but it will turn the service into a major player—as MLB and the NFL are likely taking note.
John Ourand
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August 7, 2025
Footnotes on the ESPN-NFL Deal
There may not have been a lot of suitors for the NFL’s media assets, but Disney found a way to get what it needed while the league preserved its optionality.
McAfee & Portnoy Walk Into a Studio…
The looming college football face-off between Pat McAfee and Dave Portnoy is the latest, hugely expensive attempt by aging networks to build brand loyalty among young audiences raised on a diet of clips, viral moments, and highlight reels. It’s a good idea in theory, but will it work in practice?
John Ourand
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August 4, 2025
The ESPN Endgame
Disney’s much-anticipated earnings call this Wednesday may finally reveal Burbank’s plans for the future of ESPN—Flagship, the NFL deal, and the balance between managing cord-cutting and building the next frontier.
John Ourand
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July 31, 2025
Major La Liga
Relative affordability—$250 million, anyone?—and some timely rule changes have opened up the market for Mexican soccer clubs to U.S. investors.
Comcast’s Back to the Future Sports Play
Brian Roberts and Matt Strauss’s plan to simulcast Peacock games on a new cable channel is a smart bet on a hybrid, skinny bundle strategy to monetize the stubbornly unconverted and squeeze more life from a dying platform. It may just work, at least for a while.