The Sports Media Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 114: The Big Get Jay Marine of Amazon on the NBA, NFL and future of sports Nov 22, 2023

Show notes

The head of Amazon’s global sports Jay Marine joins the pod this week to discuss Amazon’s sports strategy and how the company uses sports to grow its Prime Video business. Marine opens up to hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand about Amazon’s NBA negotiations, saying that Amazon wants to have meaningful games – including playoffs – on Amazon Prime. Marine also provides updates on Amazon’s negotiations to get NASCAR rights and CFP rights, and offers a preview to what viewers can expect during the first Black Friday game. Marchand and Ourand offer their picks for who is up in sports media, and who is down in sports media.

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Episode 113: The Big Get Eli Manning, ESPN’s DTC bet, Netflix’s NBA plan and Al Michaels’ future Nov 15, 2023

Show notes

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently announced the year – 2025 – when ESPN will take its main cable channel direct-to-consumer. Host Andrew Marchand, who has reported on 2025 as the date for a couple of years, and John Ourand discuss what needs to happen before the 2025 launch date. The two hosts identify storylines that should develop over the next two years, as it heads direct-to-consumer. In light of SBJ’s report on Netflix’s interest in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Marchand and Ourand discuss Netflix’s aspirations to invest in live sports. The hosts also dive into Marchand’s exclusive interview with Al Michaels and talk about the future of the broadcasting legend.

Former NFL legend and current TV star Eli Manning joins the podcast as The Big Get and addresses how his brother Peyton Manning convinced him to do the “ManningCast” and when he knew that the Monday night show would be a success. Manning also dives into how he dealt with the media as a star quarterback in New York, what he learned from Derek Jeter when talking with the media and who his media influences were in his younger days. Manning also discusses the 2-8 New York Giants and offers suggestions on how his former team can improve.

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Episode 112: The NBA’s local solution, MLB’s offseason to-do list and The Big Get Mike McCarley on his and Tiger Woods new venture Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

The NBA agreed to a deal with the bankrupt company Diamond Sports Group, which runs the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks. Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss how that deal affects the 15 NBA teams that have Diamond deals; how the deal could impact the league’s national TV negotiations; and what the deal means for Diamond Sports. Marchand and Ourand also discuss how MLB will approach its off-season from a sports media standpoint and look into the takeaways from its ultra successful Chiefs-Dolphins game in Germany last weekend.

Mike McCarley, the founder and CEO of TMRW Sports and TGL, joins the pod as The Big Get this week and tells the story about how Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and he decided to launch this venture. McCarley details what viewers should expect when it launches in January on ESPN. A long-time veteran of the sports media business, McCarley details the current market for sports media rights and offers his two cents on the LIV Golf controversy that took over the sport this summer.

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Episode 111: NFL problems, World Series problems, Ballys problems and streaming problems Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

YouTubeTV experienced a lot of streaming problems on Sunday, and Bally Sports’ app was not working on Monday night. Co-hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand dive into what those two problems say about where and how streaming fits into the current state of sports media.

In other topics, Marchand and Ourand offer their predictions on the NBA’s next rights deal, talk about MLB’s success this season regardless of World Series ratings and dive into MLS post-season run on AppleTV+. Marchand discusses the sports media listening tour he took last week in Minnesota, where local fans had a lot of opinions about how much they would pay to stream their teams’ games.

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Episode 110: DirecTV’s Rob Thun on the future of sports media, and Fox’s Joe Davis is The Big Get Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

DirecTV’s top content executive Rob Thun joins the pod as co-host this week to discuss the problems regional sports networks are having today and talk about how the satellite operator plans to handle local sports rights in the future. Thun tells co-host John Ourand how some of the local broadcast deals some teams have made aren’t as good as they seem, and he calls on network groups to work more closely with DirecTV as they push out direct-to-consumer services. This is the first time in nearly 30 years that DirecTV is not carrying the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and Thun talks about why he made the decision to pass on it.

The voice of baseball for Fox, Joe Davis, joins the pod as The Big Get and talks about how his preparation for the upcoming World Series differs from how he prepared for his first one last year. Davis gets into how the pitch clock affected how he called games this season; what it’s like to call games in Philadelphia; why so many young play-by-players are calling games nowadays; how he got started in the business; and the difference between a Texas chop and a Baltimore chop.

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Episode 109: ESPN’s streaming plans, Pat McAfee and sports rights predictions Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

As rumors about ESPN’s streaming plans continue to swirl around, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand separate fact from fiction. They look at the types of companies that would be interested in taking an ownership stake in ESPN and discuss the timing for when ESPN takes its main network – the mothership – direct-to-consumer.

Other topics have the hosts handicapping expected winners in the rights negotiations happening with the NBA, NASCAR and College Football Play. They discuss Marchand’s report of Pat McAfee paying guests and offer a review of the MLB playoffs so far. Marchand and Ourand offer a tribute to the retiring NHL analyst Barry Melrose. And they talk about Chris LaPlaca, ESPN’s long-time communications executive who announced his retirement this week.

Sign up for SBJ 360, our free, daily newsletter. SBJ 360 delivers a concise, high-level overview of the most important stories shaping the sports industry.

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Episode 108: The CFP auction, MLB post-season and more Taylor Swift talk Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Negotiations for the College Football Playoff’s media rights negotiations have starts, and pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand break down the media companies that will be involved and the likely winners once the CFP expands to add at least four more games. The hosts discuss the NFL’s request to have TV networks run ads for Taylor Swift’s upcoming movie and preview what to expect this week when Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs play on Thursday. As the NBA preps for a media rights negotiation, Marchand and Ourand look into what leagues can do to make their regular season games more valuable.

This week’s episode sees the return of Karp’s Korner, as SBJ’s ratings guru Austin Karp breaks down MLB’s regular season ratings, provides an update on MLB’s post-season ratings and previews what to expect with MLB’s World Series ratings. Karp provides the reasons why national numbers are lagging local viewership trends in the sport.

Sign up for SBJ 360, our free, daily newsletter. SBJ 360 delivers a concise, high-level overview of the most important stories shaping the sports industry.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 107: The Big Get Sean McManus, Deion, Woj, MLB & Swifties Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Last week, Sean McManus announced that he was stepping down as CBS Sports chairman next spring after a 27-year run. This week, McManus joins the podcast to talk about his career and the state of sports media. In a wide-ranging interview, McManus talks about his start in the business, working for legendary executives like Don Ohlmeyer, Geoff Mason and Mark McCormack. McManus takes listeners behind the curtain for the NFL deal he struck in 1998 that changed the fortunes of his network. McManus also discusses the current state of sports media, including the rise of digital streaming and Paramount+, CBS’ appetite for new sports rights deals and Tony Romo’s performance as the network’s top NFL game analyst.

Pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss ESPN’s alternate “Toy Story” telecast that ran on ESPN+ alongside its exclusive Falcons-Jaguars game from London. They banter about the effect Taylor Swift and Deion Sanders have on NFL and college football TV ratings. Marchand talks about Mark Jackson’s broadcasting future, and Ourand offers an update on Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy saga.

Sign up for SBJ 360, our free, daily newsletter. SBJ 360 delivers a concise, high-level overview of the most important stories shaping the sports industry.

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Episode 106: Rob Manfred is the Big Get and Sean McManus's big goodbye Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred joins Andrew Marchand and John Ourand on this week's show for a half hour interview. During the sit down, Manfred goes deep into the future of local media, blackouts, Apple, Peacock, ESPN, fragmentation, Yankees TV, what the future of sports gambling will look like, how a different pitch clock was considered for October, the future of the Orioles in Baltimore and the A's in Oakland.

Prior to the interview, Marchand and Ourand give their "Who's up and Who's down for the week" and delve deep into the legendary career of retiring CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus. Plus, there is Taylor Swift talk.

Sign up for SBJ 360, our free, daily newsletter. SBJ 360 delivers a concise, high-level overview of the most important stories shaping the sports industry.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 105: Bob Iger's big move, Deion's rise & the NFL TV review Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

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.

Sign up for SBJ 360, our free, daily newsletter. SBJ 360 delivers a concise, high-level overview of the most important stories shaping the sports industry.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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