SportsRadio 94WIP personalities will be serving as guest bartenders at a southern Philadelphia location of Chickie’s and Pete’s (1526 Packer Avenue) on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. ET. The endeavor is part of the Birds at the Bye Week event, an all-day remote broadcast including special guests such as Angelo Cataldi, Mike Quick, Merrill Reese, and Ray Didinger. This event is to raise money for the Travis Manion Foundation.
The event, which is being sponsored by Bud Light, will include raffle tickets for a chance to win autographed merchandise, studio sit-in opportunities, a trip with Phans of Philly and merchandise from the foundation. Some of the hosts from SportsRadio 94WIP who will work as guest bartenders – all of whom will be collecting tips and donations for the foundation – include Howard Eskin, Joe Giglio, Hugh Douglas, and Joe DeCamara among several others.
The foundation itself is dedicated to Doylestown, Penn. native 1st Lt. Travis Manion of the United States Marine Corps, a veteran who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Manion was deployed to Iraq, and before leaving, his brother-in-law stated that if he sustained an injury at home, he would not have to go back for a second time. In response, Manion said, “If not me, then who?,” indicative of the mantra the foundation operates with today that communicates a sense of duty towards one’s country.
Today, the non-profit organization performs work throughout the community that enables veterans and families of the fallen to continue service to their country while at home. There are several programs that train, develop, and highlight role models that lead them in an effort to strengthen the community. Based on these events, veterans are empowered to carry over their values to the next generation and community at large.
As the national television media rights deal for the NBA nears its expiration at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign, Netflix has reportedly expressed an interest in acquiring rights to the new NBA In-Season Tournament.
John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that the streaming company is considering creating a docuseries around the tournament, similar to what it has done for Formula 1 with Drive to Survive, golf with Full Swing, and tennis with Break Point. Netflix would look to use this style of programming to entice people to tune into the games.
The slate of contests, which occur on Tuesdays and Fridays in November during the regular season, count towards both the overall win-loss record and standings within the individual tournament group. At the end of the month, the team with the best group play record advances to the single-elimination playoffs, along with one Wild Card team for each conference.
The semifinals and championship game take place from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., with each member of the winning team taking home $500,000 and being able to hoist the NBA Cup.
Viewership for the inaugural iteration of the tournament has been strong thus far, with game broadcasts on ESPN up 55% overall from the comparable windows last year. ABC will televise the championship game of the tournament on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 PM ET. Additionally, tournament games presented through NBA League Pass have seen a 42% rise in viewership as well.
For Netflix to become involved with the NBA and sports media broadcast rights in general – something it had publicly denied interest in for several years – pairing the games with original programming is thought to be the direction it would take. Moreover, it is believed that the company would aim to own its own package within a league rather than carrying a weekly game or a slate of playoff matchups.
Netflix released an ad-supported tier last year with 15 million active users per month at a price point of $22.99. While the company reportedly has some level of interest though, it will have to wait until the league’s 45-day exclusive negotiating window with ESPN and TNT concludes, which is scheduled to begin on March 9, 2024.
A video of The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro criticizing Candace Owens — who works for the company — is making the rounds on social media.
“I think her behavior during this has been disgraceful, without a doubt,” Shapiro said to applause while addressing a crowd at a private event. He then acknowledged that she “still works at my company”, before continuing his remarks. “I think that her faux-sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous.”
He concluded by calling the statements made by Owens “disreputable”.
Earlier this month, Owens compared Israel to the pre-segregation South, by erroneously claiming that Muslims in Jerusalem are only allowed to live in the “Muslim Quarters”. The Muslim Quarter is a neighborhood in the city. An estimated 300,000 Muslims live in the city, with only 22,000 Muslims living in the area. Owens pointed to the situation as proof that Israel isn’t a “bastion of freedom”.
Shapiro isn’t the only conservative commentator to take issue with Owens’ stances on the Israel/Hamas conflict. Radio host Erick Erickson called Owens an anti-Semite and an idiot for her statement, before calling her opinions “embarrassing”.
Owens is just the latest pundit to catch Shapiro’s ire. Late last month, Shapiro called opinions shared by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson “bizarre” and “ugly”, while adding that the host was being “fully disingenuous” on his stances.
Former ABC News correspondent Jim Avila has joined ABC 10News San Diego as Senior Investigative Reporter.
Avila — who works as a regular columnist for Barrett News Media — stepped away from his duties with ABC News as Senior National Correspondent in 2021 after more than two decades with the outlet. He also spent time as a White House Correspondent, worked on 20/20, and frequently anchored World News Saturday while at ABC News.
Before shifting to ABC News, Avila worked at NBC News and local affiliates in Chicago and Los Angeles.
“Retirement is boring,” Avila joked while announcing his new role with ABC 10News San Diego. “A great station doing serious work in a perfect place to play. Checks every box.”
Personal news: retirement not for me. I am joining ABC10 San Diego as Senior Investigative Reporter. Great station doing serious news in a perfect place. Checks every box.
KFNN Money Radio in Phoenix has announced the addition of JD Hayworth as its new afternoon drive host.
Hayworth joins the station to host All Right Now! from 3-5 PM. Previously, he worked at the station in 1992 and 1993 before spending 12 years as the Congressional Representative for Arizona’s 6th District.
“KFNN has given me this chance to return to the air on a regular basis, and I’m grateful,” Hayworth said. “No one will confuse me with Toto from The Wizard of Oz, but I’ll routinely pull back the curtain on what’s really happening with politics and public policy.”
“JD coming home to KFNN is a watershed moment for our station and all Arizona radio listeners,” said CRC Broadcasting Company Owner, Founder, and CEO Ron Cohen, which owns KFNN.
“With so much interest in the 2024 election and Arizona’s growing notoriety as a key battleground state, the timing could not be better to bring JD back to host a daily show. No Valley radio host possesses JD’s credentials in both broadcasting and politics.”
Since an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2010, Hayworth has worked for several cable news outlets and filled in on numerous syndicated talk shows. Hayworth’s stops include MSNBC for Scarborough Country, CNN for Crossfire, and guest hosting spots for Mark Levin, Erick Erickson, Laura Ingraham, Mike Gallagher, Todd Starnes, and other fill-in jobs at local stations around the nation.
Sports and entertainment studio Bleav is launching written content thanks to a new partnership with Sports Illustrated Media Group and parent company The Arena Group.
Bleav, which produces over 1,000 hours of content each month in the podcast, audio, video streaming digital and social media spaces, now has an SI FanNation site. The written content highlights much of the popular Bleav content in the sports world.
“The launch of Bleav on FanNation is another important step in Bleav’s rise,” Bleav founder and CEO Bron Heussenstamm said. “We’re thrilled to work with fantastic people at The Arena Group, creating an official home for Bleav’s written word. Bleav continues to uniquely magnify the voices of our talent. It’s a huge win for everyone!”
Bleav president Eric Weinberger added that now that the company has already established itself in TV, radio and podcasting, written content was the most logical next step.
“This is another exciting step forward for Bleav,” he said. “We live on TV, YouTube, digital, podcast, radio and now in written form. It’s so great to hear, see and read all of our amazing talent’s commentary on the day’s sports and entertainment topics.”
NPR has recently launched a new podcast called Trump’s Trials. Scott Detrow hosts the show, is the weekend host of All Things Considered, and former NPR Politics Podcast host. It focuses on the criminal investigations faced by former President Donald Trump. The podcast aims to provide clear and comprehensive coverage of Trump’s legal issues.
The weekly episodes will feature insights from NPR’s political editor, Domenico Montanaro, and legal experts. They will break down complex legal matters into understandable terms. Produced by the All Things Considered team, the show will feature segments on the Saturday evening newsmagazine.
The first Trump’s Trials episode is available on all podcasting platforms. NPR Plus subscribers will benefit from accessing the show without sponsor interruptions. Executive Producer Beth Donovan expressed that the team is working hard to sort through all the details so listeners can get a quick catch-up or a deep dive with sharp takes on what’s at stake for American democracy.
Host Scott Detrow is looking forward to helping listeners make sense of each week’s developments and understand what matters and what doesn’t in the long run. All Things Considered, Executive Producer Sami Yenigun added that Trump’s Trials will give listeners an essential look at how government, politicians, and the legal system interface with each other clearly and engagingly. It’s central to NPR’s mission of keeping the public informed so that they can make good decisions about civic life and hold our leaders accountable.
The Dallas Cowboys on Sunday improved to 6-3 on the season with a convincing win over the New York Giants. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for over 400 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception in the victory, but one caller to the Cowboys postgame show on 105.3 The Fan took issue with host Gavin Dawson being overly critical of Prescott late in the win.
The caller, who went by Dirk in Allen, TX, was upset that Gavin Dawson – co-host of The Fan’s afternoon drive show GBag Nation – tweeted an observation that Prescott has a preference when in 3rd and long situations to target receivers who aren’t near the line to gain.
Cant blame Dak for that pick the receivers gotta know he prefers to throw short of the sticks on 3rd.
Dawson’s co-host Bryan Broaddus, who was on the air and took the call, defended Dawson saying being active on Twitter is part of his job. The caller asserted that Gavin Dawson was out of line and that Broaddus needed to take his co-worker to account for the tweet.
Broaddus said they have to have discussions and opinions on Dak, even ones that might be perceived as overly critical in a blowout win, because that’s what they’re supposed to do as hosts. He continued saying if someone is out of line, they’ll call it out. But they have to have something to dissect because that’s what they get paid to do.
“We hold each other accountable. We point out the good play,” Broaddus said. “All we’ve ever asked is to try and be fair, you know? That’s the whole thing…We talk about the good and the bad.”
Dirk finished saying he felt like Broaddus was objective as a host, but the narrative overall on Dak isn’t, taking a passing swipe at Shan Shariff calling the criticism amidst a banner day for Dak a bit that the hosts do.
Broaddus once again explained to the caller that it doesn’t matter whether it’s on the postgame show or the daily radio show they work on together, they work for The Fan so covering the Cowboys and putting thoughts out there on Twitter about the quarterback play is part of their main job duties.
“Anybody on this station it’s our jobs,” Broaddus said. “Anybody on this station.”
On Shan & RJ on Monday morning, Shariff had a chance to respond to Dirk and called him a crybaby.
“I am so fair. Fair as F is what I would like the t-shirts to say,” Shan said of his thoughts on Prescott’s performance as of late. “I can give props. I didn’t say anything bad about Dak Prescott whatsoever. I said he’s been playing fantastic. I said that they need to turn the team over to him. I’ve said that the past two weeks. I’m not even gonna get mad at little crybaby Dirk right there, I’m not even gonna insult the little repeater. The guy that they should’ve hung up on three minutes prior with that phone call.”
Shariff added Dawson’s tweet was a cheap shot, but they’ve never shied away from calling out where Prescott made mistakes. Even Prescott told reporters after the game he wouldn’t fully sleep comfortably knowing he turned the ball over like he did.
“That was a cheap shot, but I’ve been calling it like I see it,” Shariff said. “Congratulations, Dirk, the Dallas Cowboys and Dak destroyed a college football team, and that might be an insult to college. Whoopdy-freaking-doo.”
“That was a joke. I appreciated the attempt at humor,” added co-host RJ Choppy. He thought Dirk’s take was a little soft. “It was a comedy tweet, you know? Very irreverent, very Gavin Dawson. Very dry, very British humor.”
“Get with the program,” he added. “Dak had a bad pick. It was a bad interception. It was a bad read. I also thought the Cowboys did him no service because they put him in a 3rd and long situation by their first two downplay calling, which was terrible. But Dak’s gotta make a better read than that.”
When ESPN and PENN Entertainment inked a 10-year deal to launch an online sportsbook, it cemented the start of a strategic partnership to make a collective impact in the sports betting space. Since the U.S. Supreme Court granted states regulatory power over sports betting in 2018 as part of a seminal decision that rendered the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional, the eminence and extent of sportsbooks in the United States has precipitously expanded. According to the American Gaming Association, sportsbooks generated $7.5 billion in revenue last year. The practice is now legal in more than half of the United States.
ESPN BET, which officially launches today, is being operated by PENN Entertainment. It is now live in 17 states across the country. An ostensible challenge in this endeavor, however, lies in being able to captivate users who are already betting on other platforms and reaching new customers, all while trying to remain an unbiased, objective source of sports news and information. As part of this effort, ESPN has reportedly issued a sports betting policy that provides restrictions and/or limitations on its employees as appropriate. Data from PENN Entertainment emphasizes that 92% of current bettors are likely to use ESPN BET, while 65% of potential bettors are thought to be willing to participate in the service.
“As you think about it from the PENN perspective, there’s only one Worldwide Leader in Sports,” said Jay Snowden, chief executive officer and president of PENN Entertainment. “And so this was an opportunity of a century to be able to do this with ESPN.”
Snowden described meeting with ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro and sharing a vision to forge ahead with the project. Prior to their conversation, Snowden had heard that ESPN was interested in the sports betting space; however, he had never heard it directly from the company.
Within the 90-minute meeting, Pitaro outlined how the sports fan has to navigate between different platforms and brands in order to receive sports coverage and place a bet on games. Streamlining the process, he surmised, was a critical venture for ESPN to engage in so it could continue to appeal to its consumers.
“It was very clear to Jimmy,” Snowden said. “This isn’t something ESPN wants to do; this is something ESPN has to do because sports fans are demanding it.”
Towards the end of the meeting, Snowden began to feel that he was able to finish Pitaro’s sentences, indicating that they were on the same page. Pitaro then conversed with Aaron LaBerge, chief technology officer at ESPN, and spent time with the PENN Interactive team. After he completed this process, he shared feedback with Snowden and gave the green light to go forward with developing the platform, which involved reaching a buyout agreement with Barstool Sports.
The deal is reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion, and it grants PENN Entertainment media, marketing services, branding and additional rights from ESPN. As part of the contract, there is $500 million in warrants given to ESPN immediately, along with additional performance warrants throughout the term. These are pursuant to the platform attaining a market share of at least 20%, which is set at a strike price of $28.95, and has total performance incentives that are worth an estimated $159 million. Overall, PENN Entertainment believes this agreement will have a retail cross-sell upside landing between $500 million and $1 billion.
In looking for a partner, The Walt Disney Company considered a range of options and decided to trust PENN Entertainment as the operator. After all, PENN Entertainment has previous experience launching a sportsbook with both Barstool Sports and theScore in Ontario. The company has a similar vision of both platforms as ESPN BET is in its formative days on the market, which features betting exclusives, ESPN-themed promotions and same-game parlays.
“[PENN Entertainment has] done this before,” articulated Mike Morrison, ESPN vice president of sports betting and fantasy,” and I think it’s important to say that in this market – the ecosystem between the sports betting app and the media platform – the digital platform being aimed to find that high level of connectivity doesn’t exist anywhere in the market today.”
During the company’s third quarter earnings call, chief executive officer Bob Iger stated that PENN Entertainment was aggressive in its offer and made their interest clear. ESPN continues to be a profitable sector of The Walt Disney Company, with a 16% rise in domestic operating income ($987 million) and 1% bump in domestic revenue ($3.45 billion). The partnership was announced in the early weeks of the fourth quarter, and both brands have worked to ensure the platform was ready to be unveiled on Tuesday morning. It is estimated to reach 200 million fans and will implement a proprietary in-house tech stack from PENN Entertainment, along with branding and creative services from ESPN.
“Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products,” Pitaro said in a statement when the partnership was announced. “The strategy here is simple: to give fans what they’ve been requesting and expecting from ESPN. PENN Entertainment is the perfect partner to build an unmatched user experience for sports betting with ESPN BET.”
ESPN BET is now the exclusive odds provider for ESPN and will be featured throughout the network’s programming, including within its new morning lineup featuring Get Up, First Take and The Pat McAfee Show. In addition to these integrations, the network rebranded its ESPN2 studio program with an affinity towards sports betting to ESPN BET Live, which features experts Joe Fortenbaugh, Erin Dolan and Steve Coughlin.
The revamped show made its debut on Friday from Bristol, CT and will continue to present new episodes Saturday through Wednesday each week. As part of the brand refresh post-Daily Wager, the program is adopting the ESPN BET color palette with the distinctive mint color meant to convey a welcoming, inclusive, unexpected and fun sentiment. On-air personalities, by virtue of discussion, will look to drive consumers to engage with the content and become accustomed to the vernacular, even if it means that the viewer is not going to place a wager.
“The key for those who are new to this is to remember that this is like learning a foreign language,” Fortenbaugh said. “It can be intimidating at first, but once you learn the language you can then understand the conversation. And once you understand the conversation, you can then level up and start to learn about how the market works. From there, you’re off and running.”
In order for the partnership to be a success, it is critical to create a seamless experience for consumers that renders it facile to toggle between the betting interface and the traditional ESPN platform. Morrison underscored the inherent value within storytelling in imploring consumers to foster more of an interest regarding sports betting and interacting with the content across the network’s ecosystem. ESPN BET will ultimately serve as not only an outlet for sports fans to place bets, but also an outlet through which storylines can be extrapolated, thereby granting users the ability to contextualize and become more informed.
Fortenbaugh outlined such a scenario that could take place on either ESPN BET Live or his ESPN Radio program, Carlin vs. Joe, which includes co-host Chris Carlin. When discussing if someone would rather have the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals or the field in the AFC, a means to advance that conversation would pertain to displaying a proposition bet using odds from ESPN BET. If the consumers are intrigued by what they see, they may be more apt to place a bet with the sportsbook.
“The most important thing in this regard is that ESPN BET offers a lot of markets so we have more options for conversation and, thus, more options for bets we can make,” Fortenbaugh said. “In early conversations with our partners, it sounds like this won’t be an issue in the slightest. The menu is stacked.”
“You’ll begin to see a deeper lean-in editorially to betting in particular – what it means in terms of the game that’s about to happen; what it meant in terms of the game that happened earlier,” Morrison added. “You’ll see presence across a number of different areas both in pregame shows and signature shows, such as SportsCenter.”
Leading up to the brand’s launch, ESPN began airing a promotional spot with SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt. Now that the platform is available within 17 states, a new spot titled “Garbage Time” has been unveiled that also features Van Pelt, along with “You Had to Be There” with SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan. In addition, the vertical is holding the ESPN Headquarters Sweepstakes, which gives fans an opportunity for a chance to win an exclusive trip to the network’s headquarters in Bristol, CT.
The brand affinity of ESPN is part of the reason PENN Entertainment was interested in actualizing this business venture. At and around launch, Snowden knows that there will be plenty of paid and earned media for the sportsbook, which is expected to help expand interest and drive new user enrollment. Furthermore, the property will equip intellectual property assets from both Disney and ESPN that will facilitate capabilities that several other competitors do not have the ability to effectuate in the same manner.
“The things that we can do to create best-in-class experiences for people – destinations around big events, around the Super Bowl; the World Series; NBA Finals; March Madness Bracketology – the things that we can offer along with just betting on sports, but we have land-based casino destinations; Disney’s got all of these great destinations, so those are the differentiators,” Snowden said. “You think about the other major players in sports betting, and they really can’t offer an all-inclusive experience.”
Some competitors and consumers have labeled the ESPN BET launch as an event with the potential of creating a high level of disruption within the marketplace. For Snowden though, he is more focused on how to maximize the partnership with ESPN and collaborate on different facets of the product. When he visits the headquarters in Bristol, he gets the impression that ESPN does not just view this initiative as just another project; rather, it is being treated with a palpable level of importance and care.
“Jimmy has said it a bunch that we don’t really launch ESPN-branded products with partners,” Snowden explained, “and when we do anything at ESPN, we do it to be best-in-class and we share that. There’s a tremendous amount of pride on both sides.”
The sports media business continues to move at a rapid pace concomitant with technological innovation and changes in consumption trends. In bringing this idea to reality in less than a year’s time, both companies have had to make informed decisions with a sense of confidence and remain ready to adapt should circumstances dictate as such.
“You’re making decisions because you have extremely capable, thoughtful people on the team, and you can’t wait until you have 95% or 98% complete information or you just get passed by,” Snowden said. “You’ve got to be able to operate fast, pivot, and if you make mistakes, make them fast and move on to the next thing.”
While ESPN has showcased betting content in the past, it has never been involved with the creation and expansion of a new sportsbook from the ground up. Tuesday marks the start of a new way of continuing to serve the sports fan anytime, anywhere, and both ESPN and PENN Entertainment are committed to working together to grow the platform, and make an impact.
“Our ability to collaborate and work together and be aligned on a vision has been so important to this process,” Morrison said, “and [it] gives us so much optimism about what’s ahead.”
Dallas Mavericks analyst Brian Dameris went viral over the weekend for his comments on James Harden, but oddly Bally Sports Southwest deleted the tweet.
Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina on Monday provided a transcription of Dameris’s explanation and opinion on Harden, who was traded to the Clippers recently from the Sixers. Dameris said Harden essentially needed to look in the mirror and realize the problem he’s had finding success in the NBA starts with him.
Traina pointed out that the video got pulled from the network’s Twitter without explanation, and that when he reached out to sources to figure out a reason why it got deleted, all he was told by sources was that the comments “did not reflect the Mavericks organization.”
“Somehow, those at Bally Sports Southwest were not in agreement with Dameris’s ‘editorializing,’ according to a source, because it went against the network’s ‘values,'” Traina wrote. He seemed puzzled about why Dameris stating facts and not saying anything derogatory about Harden would sound the alarms and get taken down from social media.
“You could understand why Harden or someone in Harden’s camp would be upset with the clip. But why on Earth would anyone from Bally Sports Southwest have an issue with an NBA analyst giving dead-on, solid analysis?” Traina asked. “Whatever the case, Dameris did nothing wrong, said nothing wrong and it’s pathetic that Bally Sports Southwest deleted the clip.”
