The Sports Media Podcast

A bunch of breaking news this week dominate this week’s topics, from Bob Iger’s decision to simulcast most of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” games on ESPN and ESPN New York’s decision to relinquish its 98.7 FM signal next year to Warner Bros. Discovery plan to launch a live sports add-on tier via its Max streaming service and the XFL and USFL’s plan to merge spring football leagues. Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand have reported on all these stories and dissect why they are happening and explain how these moves will alter the sports media landscape. Now that we’re through two weeks of the 2023 NFL season, Marchand and Ourand dive into the biggest sports media storylines that have emerged, including YouTubeTV’s debut with “NFL Sunday Ticket,” the potential for “NFL RedZone” to cut into YouTubeTV’s subscriber numbers and the massive audience Amazon Prime brought to its first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season. Marchand and Ourand also tackle the impact Colorado coach Deion Sanders already has had on the college football landscape. Other topics include rights negotiation updates for the NBA, NASCAR, UFC and WWE. And Ourand pays homage to a week’s worth of great Orioles calls by MASN’s Kevin Brown. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just hours before the first “Monday Night Football” game of the season, Disney and Charter reached a deal to restore ABC and ESPN on Spectrum cable systems. Disney’s Justin Connolly was one of the key executives on that deal, and he joins the pod’s first “Inside the News” segment. Connolly discusses what last weekend was like as the two sides had round-the-clock discussions to close the deal. Other topics include why the deal works for ESPN, whether this deal provides a blueprint for other distributors, what implications this deal has on ESPN’s planned direct-to-consumer service and how this deal will affect ESPN’s aggressiveness in acquiring sports rights. Following the interview, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand offer their opinions on the deal and discuss the NFL’s first week of the 2023 regular season.ESPN analyst Marcus Spears joins as The Big Get and entertainingly outlines his progression from the NFL to ESPN. Spears talks about his new deal to stay at ESPN and the other opportunities that cropped up as he went through the negotiating process. Other topics include the media challenges involved with playing for bigger market teams; his influences in sports media; and an animated discussion of Paul Finebaum’s hairstyle. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All Disney networks, including ESPN, went dark on Charter’s Spectrum cable systems on Aug. 31, affecting close to15 million subscribers. Pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss how ESPN and Charter got to this point and predict what should happen next. The outcome of this deal has tentacles well beyond just ESPN and Charter. It has big ramifications for the entire sports business. Just a couple of days before the start of the NFL’s regular season, Marchand and Ourand identify the NFL media story lines they will be following most closely this season. And they discuss Chris Fowler’s Instagram video explaining why he made several mistakes announcing a recent college football game. Fox Sports’ top NFL broadcast booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen join the pod as The Big Get this week. The duo tell stories from last season when they replaced Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as the top crew. And they talk about the specter of another season calling games with Tom Brady waiting in the wings to take over as Fox’s top NFL analyst for the 2024-25 season. Marchand brings out his Brady Meter for this conversation. Burkhardt and Olsen also discuss some of the biggest sports media stories, including the current state of college athletics.Topics1:16 Who's Up/Who's Down5:58 ESPN-Charter24:10 NFL Preview26:12 Fowler's Flubs29:05 The Big Get: Kevin Burkhardt & Greg Olsen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Changes to the college football television landscape is the top topic on this week’s show, the hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discussing the new Big Ten deals that take effect this season on CBS, Fox and NBC. The co-hosts discuss everything from the analysts that will be used on these games to Peacock’s role in streaming games. The hosts then turn their attention to the free-agency frenzy that had Stephen A. Smith’s “First Take” show compete with Skip Bayless’ “Undisputed.” The TV networks’ ratings dispute with the NFL, Nielsen and Amazon is one of the biggest topics in sports media today, and Marchand and Ourand talk about why the TV networks are so publicly at odds over Nielsen’s plan to incorporate first-party data from Amazon into its “Thursday Night Football” ratings report. The hosts then turn their attention to Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ plan to get out of the regional sports network business. As always, Marchand and Ourand offer their picks on Who’s Up and Who’s Down for the week. This week, those picks include Patrick Crumb, Kevin Connors, Rob Manfred and Tony Romo. The hosts debut a new segment this week: the MandO Mailbag.1:46 Who’s Up/Who’s Down8:10 College Football Kickoff15:08 “First Take” v “Undisputed”21:01 Networks vs NFL vs Amazon on ratings27:05 WBD Sports leaves RSN business31:27 MandO Mailbag35:03 The Big Get: Mark Ingram II Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fantasy guru Matthew Berry joins the pod this week just a week after news broke that he raised $2 million for his Fantasy Life with an all-star roster of investors including everyone from Casey Wasserman and Tony Khan to Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. Berry discusses his move from ESPN to NBC and how he rode the rise of fantasy sports to create a career. A student of the sports media business, Berry opined on his thoughts of where the business is headed and how today’s sports media stars can amass audiences. Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the biggest sports media news of the day: ESPN’s decision to part ways with Lee Fitting, the executive behind the massive success of College GameDay. Fitting oversaw the production behind all college and pro football at the network. Marchand and Ourand discuss daytime studio changes at ESPN and Fox shows “First Take” and “Undisputed.” The two hosts also highlight reader feedback from their regular disagreement over Amazon’s and Apple’s interest in sports media.Time stamps1:28 Who’s Up/Who’s Down5:07 ESPN and Lee Fitting7:54 The Fox and ESPN talent battle14:56 Apple and Amazon23:00 The Big Get: Matthew Berry Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Less than two weeks after Arizona, Arizona State and Utah bolted the Pac-12 for the Big 12, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark joins the show to explain how it all went down. Yormark details the Big 12’s media rights deals for ESPN and Fox Sports and the rationale behind his decision to renew those deals early. Yormark outlines his vision when he started at the conference a year ago and how closely the events of the past few months aligned with his plans. He spoke about his relationships in the business, including a recent phone call with his Pac 12 counterpart George Kliavkoff. And he makes his case for college basketball to be valued more by networks. As this marks the 100th episode of the Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the top five sports media stories over the past 100 weeks, including changes at ESPN, the emergence of Amazon and Apple in the sports media business, the wild media success of the NFL, the pending media success of the NBA and the implosion of regional sports networks. Marchand and Ourand give their Who’s Up and Who’s Down over the past 100 episodes in sports media.TIME STAMPS1:48 Who’s Up/Who’s Down8:57 ESPN in transition15:11 Amazon v Apple22:50 NFL Media gains30:45 NBA Media future33:39 RSN implosion40:53 The Big Get: Brett Yormark Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Media implications from the Pac-12’s demise make up the biggest topic in this week’s Marchand & Ourand Sports Media podcast, with hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand talking about Pac-12 missteps over the past 12 months, why some university presidents did not like the Apple deal and the changing media marketplace when it comes to sports rights. Marchand and Ourand identify the three main culprits responsible for the Pac-12’s demise. Conversation turned to the College Football Playoff, which currently is negotiating a new rights deal, and NBA, which will start negotiating in earnest early next year. This leads to a discussion of the overall market and why television companies and streamers are driving harder bargains on sports rights than they have in the past. Marchand and Ourand also discuss the plight of Orioles announcer Kevin Brown, who has not called the team’s games in two weeks. The hosts outline reasons why the team decided to keep their top announcer on the bench for two weeks and offer their opinions on the escalating situation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host Andrew Marchand broke all the news about ESPN’s new NBA booth next season, and on this week’s podcast, he explains why ESPN let go of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Host John Ourand broke news this week of NASCAR signing a rights deal with The CW, and on this week’s podcast, he breaks down what the deal means for both The CW and NASCAR. Other topics on this week’s pod include the frightening subscriber numbers sports channels are posting this year; the state of negotiations around the Pac-12’s media deal; an update on the MLS-Apple deal; and the status of ESPN Radio now that the company has outsourced the group’s operations and sales to Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this week’s Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast sponsored by WSC Sports:In this week’s Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast, Mike Tirico joins the show one year before the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris. Tirico talks about his preparation for hosting those games with NBC and his role in covering geopolitical stories during the games. Tirico describes how he broke into the business, how he landed a job at ESPN and what made him move to NBC. Tirico also discusses the situation early in his NBC tenure when he wasn’t calling NFL games and how he kept from being frustrated. Marchand and Ourand open the podcast with a discussion around the company Disney is most likely to pick as a strategic partner on ESPN, from Comcast to sports leagues to venture capital to Big Tech to gambling. The two hosts then talk the story Ourand broke about the number of MLS Season Pass subscribers approaching 1 million. The conversation turns to parsing Apple’s sports ambitions further and a review of the Pac-12’s Media Day. As always, Marchand and Ourand give their picks for Who’s Up and Who’s Down in sports media for the week.For more information about WSC Sports http://bitly.ws/AUVk Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this week’s Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast sponsored by WSC Sports:In this week’s Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, BoA Securities Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich joins hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand to discuss ESPN’s future. Reif Ehrlich dissects Bob Iger’s CNBC interview from last week, when he spoke about looking for a strategic partner for ESPN. She talked about who the likely partners on ESPN would be, when ESPN would take its main channel direct-to-consumer and whether Disney is a stronger company without ESPN right now. Reif Ehrlich also analyzed where the multichannel universe is headed, the companies that are best situated for the changes in media and the decision facing the NBA, as that league takes its rights to market. Marchand and Ourand discuss broadcaster moves at ESPN (“MNF Countdown” and NBA games) and FS1 (“Undisputed”). They preview the FIFA Women’s World Cup, give MLS a report card as the league meets for its annual All-Star Game and review ESPN’s coverage from Wimbledon. As with every pod, Marchand and Ourand offer their picks of who in sports media had a good week, and who did not. For more information about WSC Sports http://bitly.ws/AUVkDisclosures for Jessica Reif Ehrlich / BofA Securities on DISThe issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, an investment banking client of BofAS and/or one or more of its affiliates.BofAS or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from this issuer or an affiliate of the issuer within the next three months.BofAS or an affiliate has received compensation from the issuer for non-investment banking services or products within the past 12 months.The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, a securities business client (non-investment banking) of BofAS and/or one or more of its affiliates.The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, a non-securities business client of BofAS and/or one or more of its affiliates.BofAS or one of its affiliates has a significant financial interest in the fixed income instruments of the issuer. If this report was issued on or after the 15th day of the month, it reflects a significant financial interest on the last day of the previous month. Reports issued before the 15th day of the month reflect a significant financial interest at the end of the second month preceding the report.One or more analysts responsible for covering the securities in this report owns stock of the covered issuer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.