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Marshawn Lynch Joining ESPN SlamBall Broadcast Crew

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The conclusion of SlamBall’s 2023 season is coming this week, and former NFL star Marshawn Lynch will be joining the ESPN2 telecast for the league’s playoffs.

Lynch will join John Schriffen and Jon Dorenbos for broadcasts of the SlamBall quarterfinals on ESPN2 and for the semifinals and championship on Thursday on ESPN.

“Marshawn Lynch stands out as one of the sports world’s most distinctive personalities, making him a perfect addition to the SlamBall broadcast booth,” SlamBall co-founder Mason Gordon said. “His unfiltered perspective and extensive experience on sports’ biggest stages will perfectly complement John Schriffen and Jon Dorenbos, who have been mainstays this season. With this playoff broadcast team, we’re confident in elevating the already exhilarating on-court action for our viewers.”

Marshawn was a four-time all-pro selection, a five-time Pro Bowler, and a Super Bowl champion. His hard-nosed playing style makes him a perfect fit to encapsulate SlamBall for a national audience.

He was also a hot name amongst NFL broadcasters before last season. He was rumored to be a part of Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football pregame show. He eventually was tapped to contribute pre-recorded man-on-the-street content.

The top two seeded teams in the playoffs, Mob and Buzzsaw, await the quarterfinal winners in the semifinals.

Jake Asman Out at ESPN 97.5 in Houston

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Jake Asman Out at ESPN 97.5 in Houston

Jake Asman is out at ESPN 97.5 in Houston. The afternoon host was let go on Monday after two years with the station. 

Gow Media slowly saw the afternoon show on its local sports talk station deteriorate in the last month. First, Cody Stoots announced he was leaving. Brad Kellner followed him three weeks later. Both men launched their own digital ventures focused on local sports.

With only Asman remaining, Gow decided to move in a different direction for afternoon drive. 

Asman will not disappear entirely from the business. He will continue to host his YouTube show. He is also a regular presence on ESPN New York 98.7 and will be on air there whenever shifts are available.

NBC News Names Gabe Gutierrez Senior White House Correspondent

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NBC News Names Gabe Gutierrez Senior White House Correspondent

NBC News has named Gabe Gutierrez as its new senior White House correspondent as the 2024 presidential campaign continues to take shape.

Gutierrez has been a New York-based national correspondent for the network after originally joining the network in Atlanta in 2012. He’ll join the NBC News White House coverage team that currently includes Peter Alexand and Kelly O’Donnell, as well as Monica Alba, Mike Memoli, and Allie Raffa, among others.

Gabe has been at the forefront of the biggest stories in recent memory, including the coronavirus pandemic, immigration issues at the southern border, the death of George Floyd, and the 2022 midterm elections,” Washington bureau chief and NBC News Senior Vice President Ken Strickland wrote in a memo to employees.

“Internationally, Gabe has reported from Ukraine and this year’s deadly earthquakes in Turkey. Most recently, he has been traveling the country covering the Republican presidential field as it continues to take shape.”

Gutierrez will step into the role vacated by Kristen Welker as she prepares to become the new host and moderator of Meet The Press next month.

Peter King: ‘ESPN is Virtuous Until It Sees Money in Being Un-Virtuous’

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The multi-billion dollar deal between ESPN and Penn Entertainment raised plenty of eyebrows in the sports media world last week. One writer that couldn’t help but take notice was NBC’s Peter King.

In his Football Morning in America column on Monday, King commended Vox’s Peter Kafka’s column about the story highlighting Disney’s history of opposing gambling. 

“It’s a striking about-face for Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spent years insisting that his company should avoid anything to do with gambling,” Kafka wrote.

King credited Kafka for his blunt headline: “Disney used to hate gambling. Now it’s doing a $2 billion sports betting deal.” He also noted ESPN used to be a part of Disney’s carefully curated, family-friendly image.

“ESPN is like so many companies: virtuous until you see how much money can be made by being un-virtuous,” King wrote.

As a company, Disney has a history of shunning gambling. When it entered the cruise business in 1995, Disney made a point of not having casinos, an industry staple, on board any of its ships.

ESPN has embraced sports betting since the Supreme Court ruled that states could decide whether or not to legalize the practice for themselves. Previous Disney CEO Bob Chapek made no secret of his desire to launch a partnership like the one the company has now with Penn.

ESPN is far from the only network to do such a thing. Plenty of networks and leagues launched official gambling partnerships. It lead King to a simple conclusion. 

“In 10 years, Gamblers Anonymous will have more people to counsel than Alcoholics Anonymous.”

Fox News Host Dana Perino to Debut Political Podcast

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Fox News Host Dana Perino to Debut Political Podcast

Fox News anchor and The Five panelist Dana Perino is set to debut a new podcast for Fox News Audio.

Perino on Politics will officially launch on Monday, August 21st. The first episode will feature appearances by conservative political analyst Colin Reed and National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty.

According to a press release from the network “Perino on Politics will take listeners on the road to the 2024 election and beyond beginning the week of the first Republican Presidential Debate, which will air Wednesday, August 23rd live on FOX News Channel.”

The new podcast is the second hosted by Perino for the network. She previously hosted 66 episodes of the Everything Will Be Ok podcast for Fox News Audio.

The latest project is another expansion of Fox News Audio. In late June, the network announced a new podcast from former Fox Business Network host Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery.

Eli Manning: ‘I Don’t Know if Peyton Drinks During ManningCast’

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Does Peyton Manning get drunk during the ManningCast? Even his brother cannot say for sure.

WFAN welcomed Eli Manning to Brandon Tierney & Sal Licata on Monday. Tierney asked the former Giants quarterback if his brother had more or less than four and a half drinks per game during the broadcast.

“It’s a good question,” the younger Manning said laughing. “He’s got his little Solo cup or his Yeti there or whatever. So I don’t know what’s in there. I don’t know what he’s drinking.”

Eli has always been willing to rip on his older brother when given the chance. It is part of the chemistry viewers say they enjoy about the ESPN alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football.

That is why even though Eli did not know the answer to Tierney’s question, he was willing to offer a hint as to what he thought it may be.

“I know he often says he’s funnier after a few drinks, so whatever that means,” he said. “I don’t know what a few means exactly to him. Everybody has a definition of ‘a few’. But with Peyton, I know he thinks he’s a little funny or relaxes a little bit after a few pops.”

The Manning Brothers will return for another season of The ManningCast for the 2023 NFL season. No schedule has been released yet. Peyton Manning has been adamant that the production will never be an every-week affair.

Mark Simone: ‘I Don’t Know Why I Still Watch’ Sunday News Shows

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Mark Simone: ‘I Don’t Know Why I Still Watch’ Sunday News Shows

The Sunday morning political affairs programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX have seen a decrease in viewership — like nearly every network broadcast — in recent years. 710 WOR host Mark Simone wondered why he shouldn’t join the trend and leave the shows behind.

During The Mark Simone Show Monday, Mr. New York shared that he still watches the shows each week, but questioned himself why he doesn’t stop.

“It’s just getting worse and worse and worse, but if you watch those Sunday shows — I don’t know why I still watch them — you’d have no idea what’s going on in the world,” Simone said. “They’ll give you half of it, then whatever is bad about Trump, they’ll give you that for an hour. But they’re not worried about Biden and then they’ll lie about whatever they bring to you.”

Simone continued by noting that This Week with George Stephanopoulos from ABC News is one of the worst offenders in his eyes.

“You get all these fake Sunday shows faking out the audience, lying to the audience. When they say — the ABC News show that is the most corrupt show I’ve ever seen — they open up ‘On today’s show’ and they list all the guests, every guest is a Trump-hating Democrat. And then they all come on and they say they try to make it sound like the Republicans are nuts.”

Stugotz: ESPN Doesn’t Care if Penn Partnership ‘Works Out’

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ESPN Bet will be on the market by the fall. What kind of market share will it be able to claim amongst mobile sports bettors? On Monday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show, Stugotz said it is irrelevant.

Producer Mike Ryan, who was in the host’s chair with Le Batard out, said that he was not so sure the $2 billion deal between the network and Penn Entertainment is a good one. Stugotz disagreed based on the numbers alone.

“I know it’s a gambling partner,” he said. “I know it could go a lot of ways, but on the surface, adding $1.5 billion to your company of revenue. Yeah, that’s a good day.”

Ryan acknowledged that the payday is undeniable. He said that ESPN had been looking at a number of sportsbooks and pitching the idea of a partnership. Penn Entertainment was just the first to agree to a deal. In an industry ripe for consolidation, there is no guarantee that ESPN Bet will be a book that survives long term.

Stugotz disagreed. Maybe Penn couldn’t survive, but ESPN Bet is a different animal.

“I think if you’re not one of those [top] two or three [sportsbooks] and you want to be one of those two or three, and I agree with you, they are going to be like two or three left standing when all of this is is said and done,” Stugotz said. “They’ll buy their competition. They’ll just buy them out of the market. But it’s a good deal for Penn because you’re spending a lot of money. Yes, obviously you have the money to spend. But if you want to become a big-time sportsbook, attaching yourself to those four letters is not a bad idea.” 

Ryan disagreed. He said that if what was missing was brand recognition and star power, Penn had that with the book’s previous iteration, Barstool Sportsbook.

“I have great respect, I really do, for what Barstool has done in a short period of time. It’s not ESPN. This is ESPN. The games are on ESPN,” Stugotz said.

The biggest strength for ESPN in the deal, according to Stugotz, is that it already has an injection of revenue from the deal. 

“I think they just took a sweetheart deal,” he said. “And you’re right, no one else really wanted to pay that much money. Someone did. They took the deal. They’re not as concerned as to whether whether or not this works out.”

Dana Loesch: Fox News Debate Rules ‘Negatively Impact Ability to Do My Job’

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Dana Loesch: Fox News Debate Rules ‘Negatively Impact Ability to Do My Job’

Fox News has sent a strong list of restrictions to media outlets on their use of footage provided by the network for the first Republican Presidential debate. It has been widely panned by some in conservative media, including radio host Dana Loesch.

During The Dana Show, the host argued that the restrictions put in place by Fox News are outrageous.

“I’ve never had a bad relationship with them,” said Loesch, “but I just have a lot of questions as to why all of a sudden are these never before seen restrictions on the primary debate?”

“Basically, we’re not really going to be able to play anything. And if we do play something it can only be stuff that is either taped right from their simulcast or that they’ve provided on their super glitchy video player,” lamented Dana Loesch. “And you can only refer to it for like seven days. It’s not Major League Baseball or NFL. This is a public interest issue!”

Loesch continued by noting that the options for her show — which is simulcasted on YouTube and The First TV network — limit her ability to utilize anything from the debate without risk of copyright strikes.

“We can’t do any anything like that. And we could get a DMCA notice. It’s a takedown notice. And then, if they hit you with a takedown notice, you can actually get demonetized on YouTube,” she argued. “Your stuff can get buried on YouTube. It affects how the algorithm views you. Everything.

“Now some people are saying that (Fox News) is doing this — they’re flexing to restore ratings after taking a hit with Carlson’s departure. Some say that they’re implementing a counter-strike in the event that Trump decides to skip the debate and hold a rally somewhere at the same time. I don’t care. I don’t give a rat’s backside because it’s going to negatively impact my ability to do my job as a broadcaster.”

Sinclair Boss: ‘Sports Still at the Heart of This Company’

BSM Staff
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Despite the bad news for Diamond Sports Group and its Bally Sports regional networks, Sinclair boss Chris Ripley says that the company is still very serious about the sports business. That is true for the regional networks, its stake in the Tennis Channel, and the local broadcast stations it owns.

“Sports is still at the heart of this company,” Ripley said in an interview with Next TV. “Take a look at what drives our business on the local media side and the broadcast side, it’s sports. And we continue to believe that it should be gamified and more highly integrated with sports betting, but also, not-for-money interactivity for virtual goods, or badging, or recognition.”

He described sports as “what’s left that works” for media companies.

Ripley refused to comment on the lawsuit between Diamond Sports Group and Sinclair. Diamond claims that Sinclair held on to $1.5 billion as it spun Diamond into its own company. 

He reiterated that the problems Diamond’s Bally Sports Networks are having are not Sinclair’s problems.

“Diamond is on its way,. It has its own management team, it has an independent board. We provide management services, and you know, it will figure out its own way, Largely Sinclair’s passive at this point. We’ve been in that position for quite some time now. And we just have to support Diamond and whatever its future may be. And you know, that’s getting worked out right now. But we’re largely bystanders, and outside viewers just like you.”

With Diamond in bankruptcy, teams across Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL and WNBA have been looking to end their deals with the company’s regional networks. Ripley says that presents an opportunity for Sinclair’s broadcast stations, which offer more reach to teams looking for a new home for their local media rights.

“I think any sport should be looking at their strategy and including over-the-air broadcast as a significant component,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be everything, but having a component of your sport on the most broadly available and most broadly watched platform will continue to make your sport healthy, and that will only be accelerated by Next-Gen TV.”

He added that the future is bright for local sports broadcasts, particularly as sports betting continues to proliferate across the country. Putting games on local networks with separate FAST channels will allow for “gamified” broadcasts that are more engaging.

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