

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch
Audacy
The Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch is a weekly show that features interviews with members of the sports media about their work, as well as roundtables with sports media reporters about television, digital, audio/radio, print, and other forms of media. You can read Richard’s work at The Athletic.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 8, 2025 • 45min
The NFL Takes A 10 Percent Stake in ESPN
Episode 534 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, the editor and founder of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast, we discuss Disney/ESPN acquiring the NFL Network and substantial rights to RedZone, along with other content assets, in exchange for the NFL getting a 10 percent ownership stake in ESPN; how we see the deal; the game inventory ESPN receives; what it means for ESPN's coverage of the NFL; the formal announcement of a launch date — Aug. 21 — for ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service; the rights agreement for ESPN DTC to become the exclusive U.S. domestic home of all WWE Premium Live Events (PLEs), including WrestleMania; the NFL extending ESPN’s rights to cover the NFL Draft through 2030 and expanding the Disney networks where the draft can air, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Aug 7, 2025 • 40min
A documentary on Diana Taurasi
Episode 533 of the Sports Media Podcast features Katie Bender Wynn, a narrative documentarian whose latest is "Taurasi," a three-part docu-series on basketball icon Diana Taurasi. It will premiere on Prime Video on August 7 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. In this podcast, Bender Wynn discusses why Taurasi is a subject worthy of documentary exploration; how the project came to her; why Taurasi wanted to do it; Taurasi's time in Russia playing for a former KGB spy; the current environment for documentaries on women athletes; the challenge of finding archival footage; Taurasi's relationship with her wife, Penny Taylor, and more.You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Aug 4, 2025 • 39min
Michael McCann on the growing nexus of sports and the law
Episode 532 of the Sports Media Podcast features Michael McCann, a legal analyst and senior sports legal reporter for Sportico and the Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute and Associate Dean for Intellectual Life at the University of New Hampshire. In this podcast, McCann discusses how to write about sports legal issues for a layperson audience; why the next five years will be a test of who's a great university president because of paying college athletes, fewer students enrolling (especially foreign students) and birthrates down; the NCAA scoring a win in court as a federal judge dismisses Terrelle Pryor's lawsuit over lost NIL opportunities; the most pressing things that exists right now in the nexus of law and sports; Donald Trump's executive power abilities for college athletics; a judge's ruling that Nevada wide receiver Cortez Braham Jr. can play what will be his seventh college football season; the NFLPA's issues; what he expect to happen with sports gambling scandals; whether a college athlete sign a contract with a sports network, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 31, 2025 • 28min
The targeting of the NFL's headquarters in Manhattan
Episode 531 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, the founder and editor of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast, we discuss a gunman allegedly targeting the headquarters of the NFL when he burst into an office tower in Midtown Manhattan and killed four people, including a police office; CNBC's reporting of the NFL closing in on a deal to take a minority stake of up to 10% in ESPN; what an ESPN-NFL partnership means for the NFL Network and NFL RedZone; the importance of the NFL's YouTube game; ABC airing a non-Caitlin Clark and non-Angel Reese game that does 1.5 million viewers an more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 29, 2025 • 31min
The Athletic's Colton Pouncy on covering one of the most interesting teams in professional sports — the Detroit Lions
Episode 530 of the Sports Media Podcast features Colton Pouncy, the Detroit Lions reporter for The Athletic and the co-host of "Welcome to Detroit," a Lions podcast with Nick Baumgardner. In this podcast, Pouncy discussed his objectives for covering training camp; why Lions head coach Dan Campbell is such as great quote; where the Lions sit among NFC teams; what it would mean if Detroit ever won a Super Bowl; the media schedule for Lions media people; how much access an NFL beat reporter gets; advice for young people who want to cover the NFL and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 28, 2025 • 5min
First Look: The Athletic Detroit Lions reporter Colton Pouncy on why Lions head coach Dan Campbell is an incredible interview
Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with The Athletic's Lions reporter Colton Pouncy. The full interview will be available on Monday. In this clip, Pouncy discusses his interactions with Lions head coach Dan Campbell and why he might be the NFL's best coaching quote. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 25, 2025 • 36min
An examination of Hulk Hogan's media impact — The guest is John Pollock of POST Wrestling
Episode 530 of the Sports Media Podcast features John Pollock, a reporter and writer at POST Wrestling and the co-host of the Pollock and Thurston podcast. In this podcast we discuss the death of Hulk Hogan; Hogan's impact on the wrestling business and American sporting culture; Hogan's making the front of the April 29, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated when the magazine was a publicity monster; why Hogan became the face and bulked-up body that led pro wrestling into America's mainstream culture; the direct line from Hogan to WWE Network's launch in February 2014 to Endeavor acquiring the WWE in a deal valuing WWE at $9.3 billion; Hogan's racism; getting booed during his Netflix appearance last January; how WWE will cover his death and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 24, 2025 • 40min
The Athletic's Buffalo Bills reporter Joe Buscaglia on whether this is finally the year for the Bills
Episode 529 of the Sports Media Podcast features Joe Buscaglia, who covers the Buffalo Bills for The Athletic and has covered the team since 2010. In this podcast, Buscaglia discusses his objectives for training camp; what an NFL training camp is like at a college; what an average day is like; how he decides what to write that day; how much access he gets; who he is competing against; how he rates the Bills Super Bowl chances and opportunities in the AFC; what the impact of Hard Knocks will be on the Bills and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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Jul 23, 2025 • 7min
First Look: The Athletic Buffalo Bills reporter Joe Buscaglia on the team's chances to break the Super Bowl draught
Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with The Athletic's Bills reporter Joe Buscaglia. The full interview will be available on Thursday. In this clip, Buscaglia discusses the Bills prospects for 2025 and what it will take to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
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7 snips
Jul 18, 2025 • 30min
What is MLB's media strategy?
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.