Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Latest Episodes:

First Look: How do you build a new pro sports franchise? Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

Here's a short clip from our interview with Teresa Resch, president of the WNBA's Toronto Tempo. The team begins play in 2026. In this preview clip, Resch discusses where her expansion team as far as hiring and ticket sale approaches. The full interview will be out Dec. 2. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Will the Chiefs-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving be the most-watched regular season game ever? Nov 25, 2025

Show notes

Episode 566 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast we discuss the Chiefs-Cowboys game airing on CBS on Thanksgiving Day and the prospect of the game breaking the current NFL regular season viewership single-game viewership record (42 million for Cowboys-Giants in 2022); whether the game can hit 50 million viewers if it's close in the final quarter; why the NFL decided to schedule its two biggest viewership draws against each other; whether the Chiefs have surpassed the Cowboys as the league's most popular draw; why we think the early game between the Packers and Lions on Fox should set an early window record for viewership; the late game between the Bengals and Ravens on NBC and why it looks to be viewership-challenged; how we see the Black Friday NFL matchup as a viewership play for Prime Video; the all-day sports marathon on Thanksgiving for Prime Video and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Major League Baseball's new media deals — and here comes Netflix Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

Episode 565 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable discussion with Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch and Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. In this podcast we discuss Major League Baseball's new three-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix; what we think of the deal; the return of NBC to regularly airing MLB games on its broadcast network for the first time in 26 years; the partnership with Netflix and whether Netflix can make the Home Run Derby bigger; ESPN getting the rights to sell and distribute MLB.TV, the league’s out of market streaming service and a 30-game package exclusively on ESPN’s linear networks; whether Sunday Night Baseball can become a franchise; will this help Peacock, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

SBJ's Ben Fischer on the NFL's biggest business stories — and whether we could ever see a 20-game regular season Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

Episode 564 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Ben Fischer, who covers the NFL and all other professional football news for Sports Business Journal. In this podcast, Fischer discusses his reporting on "The Next Commissioner: The vexing task of finding the next generation of sports leadership"; who is line to ultimately succeed Roger Goodell; the NFL's international playbook; what he thought of the Spain game; the NFL's research claiming there are about 11 million NFL fans in Spain; 19 million fans in Germany and 36 million in Brazil; where the NFL would like to expand its international inventory; playing in Australia next year; whether we could ever see a 20th regular season game; the NFL's viewership in 2025; the league's relationship with Netflix and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

First Look: SBJ's Ben Fischer on who could replace Roger Goodell as the next NFL Commissioner Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

Here's a short clip from our interview with Ben Fischer, who covers the NFL for Sports Business Journal. In this preview clip, Fischer discusses the candidates and skill set needed to replace Roger Goodell when he ultimately leaves his NFL commissioner job. The full interview will be out on Wednesday. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

The emergence of Robbie Hummel as a leading basketball voice Nov 14, 2025

Show notes

Episode 563 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features NBA and college basketball analyst Robbie Hummel, who has jobs with NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Turner Sports and Big Ten Network. Regarding his NBC Sports duties, Hummel is a game analyst for Peacock and NBC situated on the bench as opposed to the traditional broadcast spot. In this podcast Hummel discusses how his "On the Bench" work is different than a conventional analyst; what that access affords him; how NBA teams have responded and whether teams have asked him not to report specific things; how he communicates with his other analyst; why men's college basketball is not as popular in the regular season as it once was; his responsibilities for CBS Sports; morphing between the college game and the pro game; working for so many networks; his work as a men’s basketball analyst for Paris 2024, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

CNBC's Alex Sherman on the YouTube TV-ESPN/Disney dispute Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

Episode 562 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Alex Sherman, a CNBC media and sports reporter, the author of the CNBC Sport newsletter and the host of the CNBC Sport Videocast. In this podcast Sherman discusses YouTube TV subscribers dealing with all of Disney’s programming being removed until the two sides reach a new carriage agreement; why the two sides are battling over carriage fees; which side has the leverage; why YouTube TV is aided by being a small part of a $3.3 trillion company in Alphabet; does public pressure matter; the role of Hulu with Live TV; whether the allegations against Guardians pitchers an indictment Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase will impact MLB's bottom line; an update on WBD's potential sale or split-off as it relates to sports, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Best-selling sports writer Jeff Pearlman on why he wrote a book on Tupac Shakur Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

Episode 561 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features best-selling author Jeff Pearlman, whose latest book is "Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur." In this podcast Pearlman, who has written books on Walter Payton, the Dallas Cowboys, Bo Jackson. The Lakers and the 1986 Mets among others, discusses why he spent three years doing a book on Tupac; how he navigated interviewing nearly 700 people for this book; how the book reunited the mother and son from Tupac’s ‘Brenda’s Got a Baby’"; what Tupac might be doing today; getting criticism for writing the book; why he thinks recent sports nostalgia can sell and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

What will the massive World Series viewership numbers mean for MLB heading forward? Plus, do the teams leading the AFC draw your interest? Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

Episode 560 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Sports Media Watch editor and founder Jon Lewis. In this podcast Lewis and Deitsch discuss the World Series viewership numbers, including the Game 7 average of 27.33 million viewers on FOX; why this series produced the numbers it did; the viewership in Canada and Japan; what it means heading forward; the Chiefs-Bills viewership number; whether the teams currently leading the AFC can draw viewership numbers; Kenny Smith calling NBA games for ESPN; the report from the Athletic that Drew Brees will fill in the Fox NFL spot previously held by Mark Sanchez and what we think of that, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

First Look: How do you sell a sports book in 2025? Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

Here's a short clip from our interview with Jeff Pearlman, the best-selling author whose latest book is "Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur." In this preview clip of the full interview on Friday, Pearlman discusses what he sees as the best avenue to sell a sports book in 2025. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

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