The Sports Media Thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

'Pat McAfee Show' coming to ESPN in multiyear deal - ESPN

[Ksyrup]

I'm seeing a ton of stuff on Twitter about layoffs at The Athletic. Seems to fit the cycle - claim you're going to disrupt the current model, get a bunch of money, make splashy hires, lose money, pare it all back, end up looking a lot like the model you disrupted.

EDIT: Doesn't look like they are massive, but per the next post, they are downsizing the local coverage for some sports - which is the precise reason they were formed, to pick up the slack for the loss of local sports coverage.

[Ksyrup]

Honest question - if they aren't providing quality local coverage, what's the point of The Athletic? https://t.co/3YMrXxnMSk

— Cooper Lund (@cooperlund) June 12, 2023

[JonInMiddleGA]

Since some league audiences are "more local", we'll eliminate having anyone in / familiar with the market cover them.

Yeah, that makes total sense.

[Ksyrup]

The Athletic is eliminating a lot of local reporting roles

Newspapers doing the same

RSNs in big trouble

SBN has nuked/are nuking tons of their team/school sites.

Troubling trend in terms of local sports coverage. Nobody is confident in a business model for local coverage. https://t.co/34MO2zUMAE

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) June 12, 2023

[QuikSand]

Can’t say I’m surprised but it is disappointing.

[Honolulu_Blue]

It really is.

I love The Athletic's coverage. It's largely my main source of sports coverage other than local papers.

[GrantDawg]

I was an Athletic subscriber for a couple of years. I had one chief complaint. For whatever reason, the site would not keep me logged in. If I hir a link for an article, it would prompt me to log in, then when I logged in it wouldn't take me back to the article. I complained to them about for two years with no fix, so I said "see ya." If you can't make a site user friendly, then you must not really need users.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I was an Athletic subscriber for a couple of years. I had one chief complaint. For whatever reason, the site would not keep me logged in. If I hir a link for an article, it would prompt me to log in, then when I logged in it wouldn't take me back to the article. I complained to them about for two years with no fix, so I said "see ya." If you can't make a site user friendly, then you must not really need users.

That’s odd. I use it over multiple devices - a couple PCs, iPad and iPhone - and never had an issue.

The app and website have always seemed really reliable and user friendly.

[albionmoonlight]

I subscribe to https://neworleans.football/

It is just one local reporter who decided to try and branch out on his own. It was/is successful enough that he's got a staff reporter now.

I wonder if the model for local can be more like this and less like trying to fit under one umbrella after getting a bunch of VC money.

There might be a market for local news, but not enough of one to make massive profits on top of compensating those who actually produce the content.

[GrantDawg]

I worry about my nephew in the business. He is on the radio now and I think he will always be more audio/visual, but it is still very cut throat.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I worry about my nephew in the business. He is on the radio now and I think he will always be more audio/visual, but it is still very cut throat.

That's always been the nature of THAT business.

You are, always, like a baseball manager: hired to someday be fired.

[GrantDawg]

Todd McShay out at ESPN.

[NobodyHere]

Former ESPN Co-Workers, NFL Fans Pay Tribute To Suzy Kolber After She Announces Layoff

[NobodyHere]

The heads continue to roll:

Max Kellerman Among On-Air Personalities Laid Off By ESPN This Friday

I haven't watched ESPN in years but I do remember him doing Around the Horn. Giving the host the ability to mute participants is a must for any debate format show. I wish they did it for Presidential primary debates and general election debates.

[Kodos]

Joe Namath with a touching tribute to Suzy:

[JonInMiddleGA]

And yet it appears that Doris Burke, Kendrick Perkins and Mark Jackson all still have jobs.

Keep cuttin' ESPN, you ain't done yet.

[miami_fan]

Hang on, people actually liked Jeff Van Gundy on NBA telelcasts?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

The heads continue to roll:

Max Kellerman Among On-Air Personalities Laid Off By ESPN This Friday

I haven't watched ESPN in years but I do remember him doing Around the Horn. Giving the host the ability to mute participants is a must for any debate format show. I wish they did it for Presidential primary debates and general election debates.

They were paying him $5 million per year? Really?

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Hang on, people actually liked Jeff Van Gundy on NBA telelcasts?

Yes

[albionmoonlight]

Mike Francesa slams Jets for wanting to be on Hard Knocks, which they don't

I guess hanging on too long is really easy to do when there's no one really to tell you to stop

[stevew]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And yet it appears that Doris Burke, Kendrick Perkins and Mark Jackson all still have jobs.

Keep cuttin' ESPN, you ain't done yet.

Yeah all of those, especially Jackson.

[albionmoonlight]

I have some personal news today. pic.twitter.com/2KbWvr7T5N

— Aaron Schatz �� (@ASchatzNFL) July 6, 2023

Does not sound entirely voluntary. But he's the CEO/Founder, so I'm not sure how he'd be pushed out.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I have some personal news today. pic.twitter.com/2KbWvr7T5N

— Aaron Schatz �� (@ASchatzNFL) July 6, 2023

Does not sound entirely voluntary. But he's the CEO/Founder, so I'm not sure how he'd be pushed out.

He was not the owner or the guy who was cutting the checks. The folks who do own the site, Champion Gaming, are either not cutting checks at all or the checks they are cutting are made of rubber.

EDIT: https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/foot...on-gaming.html

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by stevew

Yeah all of those, especially Jackson.

Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, and Colin Cowherd all have well paying jobs, and I would rather have a spike driven through my brain than listen to any of them talk about anything, especially sports.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, and Colin Cowherd all have well paying jobs, and I would rather have a spike driven through my brain than listen to any of them talk about anything, especially sports.

Same.

[Ksyrup]

This is ... something. So Tyler Kepner is going to be covering the Bronx real estate market now?

NEW: The New York Times is disbanding its Sports desk and integrating more coverage from The Athletic. NYT editors said no layoffs were planned and Sports journalists will move to other roles in the newsroom. https://t.co/mYlY3KC5oa w/ @koblin

— Katie Robertson (@katie_robertson) July 10, 2023

[albionmoonlight]

No layoffs are planned.

We will just move people to areas where they have no experience and no desire to work, and if they happen to resign on their own, then so be it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Does this move provide a way to prop up The Athletic financially? I'm picturing some sort of "move money from the left pocket to the right pocket" deal where NYT allocates funds in a structure that essentially treats The Athletic like a sort of freelancer.

[Ksyrup]

Just ran across this on Twitter. Holy crap, Charlie Steiner! This wasn't exactly before my time, but I was 10 and 24 hour sports coverage wasn't exactly a thing, so there's no way I would have seen this. I just assumed it was 2 British reporters, and then there's Steiner! Hilarious!

Wimbledon 1981:

Reporters brawl in the press room after the Men's SFs in which McEnroe walked out after being questioned about his personal life

According to the New York Times, the fight involved Nigel Clark with The Daily Mirror & Charlie Steiner of RKO Radio

🎥: ITN Archive pic.twitter.com/lp0eSmb4I5

— Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) July 9, 2023

[CrossroadsReb]

Wow! Had no idea this existed. Charley went from press conference scuffles to classic ESPN moments in two decades. I read where the head of the All-England Club personally thanked him. I'm assuming because the tabloids were seeping into sports and Wimbledon doesn't seem like the venue that the British would appreciate that happening.

[GrantDawg]

Charlie held his own. I would have thought he fold like a deck of cards.

[Ghost Econ]

I saw Sage Steele was leaving ESPN so she can get some of that far right grift. Not sure if she's black enough to steal some of Candice Owens's market.

In reading the Reddit thread, I also learned Michelle Tafoya went far off the deep end on the far right but that her views are less than old In The Bleachers episodes.

[Ksyrup]

Details about student pricing for NFL Sunday Ticket are supposed to come out next week. If I can get ST through my daughter at a decent price, I may jump. Otherwise, I'll just watch Redzone.

[cuervo72]

We are finally considering dropping DirecTV -- it's just too much and we don't watch enough on it, and area trees have really eliminated all good places for the dish (we're not putting it back up on top of the roof, where it is impossible to clean off ice/snow). If we do, we'll likely try YouTube TV. I will not however spring for Sunday Ticket.

[Ghost Econ]

NFL Plus Premium is $80 on the NFL website and gets you red zone, local games, primetime games and replays of any game.

[stevew]

Shannon Sharpe on first take starting next month.

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I will not however spring for Sunday Ticket.

Sunday Ticket is by far the worst "bang for the buck" of all of the premium sports services. There are, at most, 16 NFL games per week (fewer during bye weeks), and you can already watch five of those on other networks every week (CBS, Fox, ESPN and NBC).

[cuervo72]

That's part of it. Originally I got it because I was stuck in MD/DC and was forced to watch the Redskins and Ravens, and then some of the time not even the latter. But when the Eagles are good, I can often see the two WAS/PHI games, many of the other NFC East games involving the Eagles, and some weeks they're on primetime anyway.

(I mean, right now they are slated to be in prime time against MIN, TB, MIA, KC, DAL. They have two against WAS, and are in the 4PM slot for NE, LAR, NYJ, DAL, BUF, SEA, NYG. They'll be on plenty. [also holy shit, not an easy schedule])

But yeah, with MNF, SNF, and now TNF, and with me watching college more, I have plenty of football to keep me happy w/o paying extra for it.

[Ksyrup]

Even with free Sunday Ticket the last few years, I found myself watching Red Zone 75% of the time. So if I get a separate Red Zone without ST, that's even more of a reason not to splurge.

What I've seen about the student version sucks - no family sharing, one sign-in device and one concurrent stream at a time.

[Lathum]

I wont be getting it. I watch red zone unless Giants are on. Zero reason for me to have it.

[miami_fan]

I suspect this was not meant to appeal to me so there is no shock that it does not. Give me the sports bar, chip in to pay for YouTube TV at someone's house, go to the college basketball arena, just about anything else beside going to a theater to watch a football game.

ESPN will air ACC, College Football Playoff games in theaters

[Ksyrup]

We happened to be on a cruise for the super bowl and watched it in a theatre. Not exactly the same kind of crowd, of course, but it was actually a pretty fun environment. That said, I've been in a movie theater about 4 times in the past 20 or so years, so I certainly would not go to one to watch a football game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jim Caple, former ESPN, national MLB writer, dies at 61 - ESPN

[JPhillips]

I hate that McAfee has decided he can make more money by platforming anti-vax nonsense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

ESPN's Barry Melrose retires after Parkinson's disease diagnosis - ESPN

Melrose joined ESPN two years before my son was born. He literally doesn't know national coverage that doesn't include Melrose.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

ESPN's Barry Melrose retires after Parkinson's disease diagnosis - ESPN

Melrose joined ESPN two years before my son was born. He literally doesn't know national coverage that doesn't include Melrose.

I barely know NHL national coverage without Melrose.

[Ksyrup]

I don't watch pre-game shows, but I just saw some good news for people who do - Pat McAfee is not coming back to College Game Day.

[Ksyrup]

Nick Kyrgios - best known for being a self-defeating hothead tennis player - is commentating on the ATP finals this week and he's been great. I could easily see him following fellow hothead John McEnroe into a post-career booth job.

Today, after hearing Alcaraz beat himself up over his loss to Djokovic yesterday, Kyrios said that Alcaraz was being too hard on himself and invited him to come see him so he can "pump his tires up." His partner said, "You've been talking about players being nicer to each other all week," and without missing a beat, Kyrgios said, "Maybe I should take my own advice."

Really enjoyed listening to him this week.

[molson]

I was watching some old NFL games from the 80's on Youtube - it's really interesting how different some things were, what I randomly remember vividly.

Also, sideline reporters used to have a purpose. Ahmad Rashad (in his glorious fur coat) is reporting and analyzing and adding context to what we're seeing. Which I guess was a lot more important back then when replay and cameras were much more limited. Today you get that kind of analysis on a play by play basis.

I also can see part of why there's so much more consternation about refs today. In 1985, there might be a huge drive-killing facemask penalty, and then, everybody just moves on to the next play. There was no ability to isolate and actually find the play and penalized player and what he did or didn't do.