Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Alex Sherman, a CNBC media and sports reporter, discusses his recent interview with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. The conversation reveals MLB's current media rights strategy amid challenges, including potential shifts in partnerships with ESPN. Sherman delves into the impact of innovations like the pitch clock on viewer engagement and the possibilities of streaming events like the Home Run Derby. He examines the complexities of local broadcast rights and the potential for a centralized streaming service to enhance revenues across teams.

Episode 527 of the Sports Media Podcast features Chad Finn of The Boston Globe, Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch and Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal. In this podcast, we discuss the MLB All Star game as a media property; what a good ASG viewership number would be for the sport; the potential last year of the Home Run Derby for ESPN; the WNBA All Star Game and whether it can top last year's 3.4 million viewers; whether Caitlin Clark missing games makes her playing in the All Star Game less or more of a draw; Amazon and NBC's NBA hires; the phenomenal "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story'" documentary airing on on National Geographic, Disney+ and Hulu, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 526 of the Sports Media Podcast features Brian Windhorst, a senior NBA writer for ESPN who regularly appears on multiple ESPN platforms and is the host of the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast. In this podcast, Windhorst discusses how valuable attending Summer League is for an NBA reporter; why so much of NBA breaking news is broken by just a handful of reporters including Shams Charania, and Adrian Wojnarowski before him; agendas from sources; his reaction to LeBron James discussing him on ESPN; getting aggregated; his ESPN contract status; the prospects of the Toronto Raptors in 2025-26 and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with Brian Windhorst, the longtime ESPN NBA senior writer and on-air analyst. The full interview will be available on Monday. In this clip, Windhorst discusses why so much of NBA breaking news is broken by just a handful of reporters including currently ESPN's Shams Charania, and Adrian Wojnarowski before him. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 525 of the Sports Media Podcast features Tara Slone, a Canadian-based sports broadcaster who currently works as a host for SiriusXM Canada as well as covering the San Jose Sharks for NBC Sports California. She previously worked on Sportsnet’s long-running “Hometown Hockey”  In this podcast, Slone discusses the state of women’s professional sports in Canada; why pro sports have exploded in the country; the prospects of success for the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo; what kind of media coverage we anticipate the Tempo will get; the growth of the PWHL and the founding of The Northern Super League; why women’s college sports are not bigger in Canada; the job market for sports media professionals in Canada, and more.You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 525 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is Mark Henry, the former WWE performer, U.S. Olympic weightlifter, and now one of the hosts on SiriusXM’s “Busted Open,” the daily wrestling show. In this podcast Henry discusses SiriusXM announcing last week the launch of its first ever 24/7 channel dedicated to the world of professional wrestling, Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7; why an audio channel covering pro wrestling 24 hours a day, seven days a week exists; how he navigates between discussing athletic scripted entertainment with the business of pro wrestling; why pro wrestling content has exploded; his son, Jacob Henry, a Oklahoma football player and wrestler who signed as a WWE NIL athlete; working in Canada, and more. Henry is followed by Sean Grande, the longtime voice for the Boston Celtics who will serve as the boxing play by play voice for Netflix’s all-women card on July 11 from Madison Square Garden. That card includes the third meeting between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Grande discusses how he got the Netflix assignment; how he approaches is boxing calls; working with Seniesa Estrada and Laila Ali on the commentary team; what Netflix has been like as an employer; what it might be like calling the Celtics this year and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 524 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests for a sports media roundtable: Jon Lewis, founder and editor of Sports Media Watch, and  Austin Karp, assistant managing editor of Sports Business Journal. In this podcast we discuss the biggest sports stories of the first half of 2025 and what we think will be the biggest stories of the second half of 2025 including the new NBA players, ESPN's DTC, and college football coverage; what would the men's and women's basketball tournament look like going to 76 teams; WNBA expansion, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Badenhausen, a seasoned sports business reporter for Sportico, shares his insights on valuing professional sports franchises. He explains the dramatic 180% increase in WNBA team values and the staggering $10.32 billion worth of the Dallas Cowboys. Badenhausen discusses how franchise valuations shift with markets and media rights, along with the critical role star athletes play in small markets like the Oklahoma City Thunder. The future of sports media and the rising interest of institutional investors in franchise values also spark an engaging conversation.

Episode 522 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jason Benetti, the television voice of the Detroit Tigers and a play by play announcer for Fox Sports. In this podcast, Benetti discusses what it's like calling the best team in baseball (so far); why the Tigers have been successful; how calling a winning team impacts how the viewer perceives a broadcast; Detroit as a sports city; the best stadium experiences for a visiting broadcaster; chatting with Jack White and J.K. Simmons about baseball; his upcoming Fox college football schedule and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 521 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, founder and editor of Sports Media Watch and Donnovan Bennett, host and podcaster for Sportsnet. In this podcast we discuss the NBA's Game 7 viewership (16.35 million viewers) and how it bailed out what would have been a catastrophic viewership story; Game 7 being the most-watched NBA Finals game in six years; the viewership issues for Thunder-Pacers; why people did not watch the series before Game 7; ESPN/ABC's negative-centric NBA Finals halftime show; how next year's new media deal featuring Amazon, NBC and ESPN/ABC will change coverage, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices