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Richard Sherman Emerges As Candidate to Join Skip Bayless on Undisputed

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Former Seattle Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman appears to be receiving interest in sitting opposite Skip Bayless on Undisputed on FS1.

According to the New York Post, Sherman and Bayless met at a Beverly Hills hotel this week to discuss the Super Bowl champ potentially joining the show.

Bayless and Sherman have tangled in debate television previously, with one exchange on First Take during the peak of Seattle’s run in the early 2010s going viral. There isn’t any bad blood between the two currently.

Sherman would be replacing Shannon Sharpe, who left the show last month after seven years working with Skip.

Sherman had spent last season as an analyst for Thursday Night Football coverage on Amazon Prime Video.

Undisputed is on a hiatus until August 28. Previous reports had indicated that at least part of the reason for the extended time off is that FS1 was having trouble finding someone willing to work with Bayless every day.

Andy Hart: I’m Sick of Needing an Economics Degree to Talk Sports

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Andy Hart: I’m Sick of Needing an Economics Degree to Talk Sports

Having an understanding of the business side of sports is never a bad thing, but WEEI host Andy Hart wishes that financials weren’t seemingly at the heart of sports fandom.

Filling in on Gresh & Fauria on Thursday, Hart said he wishes it were more simple especially in a city like Boston.

“Why do I have to spend so much GD time worried about money as a sports fan in – correct me if I’m wrong – we’re still in Boston, Massachusetts, correct? It’s a big market,” Hart said to Andy Gresh. “Generally we are thought of as the teams because the fan bases are so voluminous and passionate and willing to spend their money. This is a market that can support these teams.”

Hart later added that what really irks him is hearing team management make it seem like tough financial times are the reason why they had to let certain players go or can’t trade for others. He doesn’t buy it when people are making money hand over fist working for billion dollar assets.

“They make money, they can spend money,” Hart said.

Andy said that he’s being nickeled and dimed by the front offices as a fan hoping for the best for the teams he loves and supports. But even more annoying is the fact that all this sort of stuff is at the forefront of fandom.

“I am sick and tired of needing an economics degree, a spreadsheet, to talk about my team, to follow my team, to lust after talent for my team,” he said. “These teams are worth billions of dollars, they are run by men who are worth billions of dollars in Boston. And again, I’m pretty sure we support them pretty well.”

“I have to worry about their books all the time,” Hart added. “It’s become part of being a sports fan that I hate.”

The CW Network to Televise ACC Football, Basketball Games

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The CW Network to Televise ACC Football, Basketball Games

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has announced that The CW Network has obtained exclusive broadcast rights to 50 of its college football and basketball games each season through 2026-27, all produced by Raycom Sports. A matchup between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and University of Cincinnati Bearcats will open the 2023-24 campaign, during which games will air on Saturday afternoon and in primetime.

When autumn turns to winter, The CW Network will broadcast 28 men’s basketball games and nine women’s basketball games on the weekends. Men’s basketball doubleheaders will take place on Saturday afternoons while women’s basketball games will be on Sunday afternoons.

“We are thrilled to be adding The CW to our weekly television lineup for ACC football and basketball games,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D., said in a statement. “The CW’s national distribution will directly benefit our student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans. We appreciate ESPN and Raycom working together and look forward to the partnership with The CW.”

“We are committed to making The CW a destination for live, appointment-viewing sporting events,” Dennis Miller, president of The CW Network, said in a statement. “The ACC is home to some of the most decorated college football and basketball teams in the country, and we look forward to welcoming these avid sports fans to the network as we continue to broaden our audience.”

These media rights were acquired by The CW from Raycom Sports, which sub-licenses rights from ESPN. The ACC agreed to a 20-year media rights deal with ESPN in 2016, and the “Worldwide Leader” also launched the ACC Network in 2019. Under the terms of the deal, each member school grants its own individual rights to the conference, which are then part of the larger media rights deal.

Raycom Sports, owned by Gray Media Group, works in video content production, distribution, sales and marketing and has produced a countless number of live sporting events with premier athletic conferences. The company has also worked with the National Football League to produce preseason games and specials. There was an existing relationship between Raycom Sports and the ACC since the company manages the conference’s digital platforms and launched the ACC Digital Network, a free ad-supported television channel.

“The CW is going to be a terrific partner for the legendary ACC,” Hunter Nickell, chief executive officer of Raycom Sports, said in a statement. “The longest-running television relationship in college sports belongs to the ACC and Raycom Sports. Now, The CW brings national broadcast network coverage to the great fans of these 15 famous schools.”

Kyle Rudolph Reportedly Joining NBC Big Ten Coverage

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National Football League tight end and two-time Pro Bowl selection Kyle Rudolph is going to be calling select Big Ten matchups on NBC this fall, he recently told Pete Sampson of The Athletic. The news has not been confirmed by NBC Sports, but it would continue Rudolph’s role on football broadcasts after working as a broadcast analyst for the United States Football League (USFL) this past season. Rudolph has played 12 seasons in the NFL and is the Minnesota Vikings’ all-time leader in touchdowns by a tight end (48).

Rudolph formerly played at the University of Notre Dame and called the Blue-Gold game alongside play-by-play announcer Tony Simeone. NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua recently departed the network to succeed Jack Swarbrick as the university’s 13th athletics director. He is on the verge of beginning a transition period lasting until July 1, 2024, during which he will shadow Swarbrick in the role of special assistant to the president for athletics. Notre Dame is reportedly targeting an annual payout of $65 million to $75 million in its next media rights deal, and discussions reportedly started with NBC.

Bevacqua will now be on the other side of the negotiating table, temporarily pausing discussions, and negotiating with NBCUniversal Media Group chairman, Mark Lazarus. Early negotiations were allowed to commence after the Big Ten agreement activated a clause in the ongoing 12-year media rights contract. Notre Dame is reportedly considering joining a power conference if it is unable to accrue those rights fees. Viewership for Notre Dame Fighting Irish home football games averaged 2.43 million.

The Big Ten media agreement with CBS, FOX and NBC began at the start of this month and continues through the end of the 2029-30 athletic season. While terms of the deal were not officially released, it is reportedly worth over $8 billion, making it the largest media rights partnership in the history of college sports in the United States. Yet there were unsettled financial terms when Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren left to become the president of the Chicago Bears related to mandated night football games, which caused a stir in late May.

NBC is unveiling a new lead broadcast team on Big Ten games this year with Noah Eagle as the play-by-play announcer and Todd Blackledge as the lead analyst. They will be joined by Kathryn Tappen as a sideline reporter and Football Night in America studio host Maria Taylor will serve in the same role for these broadcasts. Since the network has not announced a role for Rudolph, the commentator tandem is, at the moment, unknown.

Bonta Hill Thanks Rob Parker For Encouraging Him to Develop Media Versatility

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The 2023 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention and Career Fair is just a few weeks away and will feature accomplished names in the media at large. In late June, the organization announced that ESPN Head of NBA and Studio Production, Dave Roberts, and FOX Sports Radio host Rob Parker would be inducted into the NABJ Hall of Fame, honoring their achievements as “Black journalists and communicators who have made outstanding contributions to the industry.”

Rob Parker made an appearance on The Morning Roast on 95.7 The Game, but before they started asking him questions about sports in the San Francisco Bay area, Bonta Hill recalled his first experience at the annual event. Hill, who attended the City College of San Francisco at the age of 26, wrote and edited sports stories for The Guardian and was always looking for ways to broaden his skillset.

Whether it was through public address announcing, working as a newspaper correspondent or interning at radio stations, Hill was determined to stand out by breaking the mold of solely concentrating in one area. Even so, he was not entirely sure that being a multifaceted talent in sports media was a shrewd career move since the norm over the years was to concentrate in one area. Long before he was working with Greg Papa on 95.7 The Game, Hill attended his first NABJ Convention in New Orleans, La. and sought out the advice of professionals in attendance.

“One guy told me, ‘Man, you’re going to have to pick one. You’re going to have to either write or you’re either going to have to do radio,’” Hill told Parker. “I actually ran into you and you gave me five minutes – I’ll never forget it – you gave me five minutes and you said, ‘Young brother, do both. Don’t ever let nobody tell you you can’t do both.’”

Similarly to Hill, Parker was advised to select one career path rather than spreading his talent across various niches in the industry. All these years later, Parker is being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he continues to write, edit, host a radio show and a podcast. Parker is the founder of MLBbro, an outlet dedicated to covering Black and brown Major League Baseball players of the past and present. Today, he hosts the Inside the (Rob) Parker podcast and The MLBbro Show Podcast – The Mixtape, while also operating the website.

When he was at ESPN, Parker remembers he would frequently grab meals with Jason Dumas, a production assistant, and one day, decided to ask him where he saw himself in the future. Dumas responded by saying that he wanted to be on the air, prompting Parker to advise him to prepare to leave ESPN. Few production assistants appeared on camera, and he ended up taking Parker’s advice and working around the country. Today, Dumas is working in San Francisco, Calif. as the sports director at KRON4 and NBA reporter for the digital outlet, Bleacher Report.

“I’m proud of him, and that story you told me, I’m glad that was your experience because people tried to tell me that as well about not doing more than one thing; it’s just not true,” Parker said. “Nowadays, that’s what everybody’s doing, but back then when I first started, I was doing local TV and I had a radio show and a newspaper column. People criticized me about spreading myself too thin and [said that] I should only be doing the column and whatnot. Here it is 37 years later and they’re putting me in the Hall of Fame, so I think I made the right decision.”

Twitter to Begin Sharing Ad Revenue With Users

BNM Staff
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After promising to share advertising revenue with users after he purchased Twitter last year, Elon Musk will apparently make good on the promise before the week is out.

An account tweeted a screenshot that purported to claim users would begin being paid for their well-performing tweets.

“Surprise! We’re delighted to share a portion of our ads revenue generated from your Tweets’ replies with you,” the message says. “We want to make sure you can benefit from your posts as a Creator, and this is yet another step towards that goal. You will receive your share via the Stripe account you used to register for Creator Subscriptions in the next 72 hours.”

Twitter will require five million tweet impressions each month for at least three months for users to be eligible for ad revenue sharing.

In response to the tweet, Musk claimed that “revenue payout to content creators will be cumulative from when I first promised to do so in February”.

Musk first mentioned the ad revenue payouts on February 3rd. Screenshots by some users — including @BillyM2K, an account with 2.1 million followers that claims to be “a sarcastic cartoon dog wearing glasses” — appear to show payments in excess of $37,000 after the program reportedly went live.

Geraldo Rivera: I Left Fox News Due to ‘Very Toxic Relationship’ With Co-Host

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Former Fox News correspondent and The Five panelist Geraldo Rivera joined The View Thursday to discuss his exit from the network, and he mentioned the souring of a relationship ultimately led to his departure.

“I had a very toxic relationship with another of the cast members,” Rivera admitted before Joy Behar pressed him for an answer. He was questioned if Jesse Watters was the person Rivera clashed with. He declined to name the host but did say “he”, eliminating panelist Jeanine Pirro.

Rivera then said he told Fox News executives “if you fire me from the number one show, then I’m going to quit. And that’s basically what happened.”

When asked why Rivera was the one held accountable for a relationship deteriorating behind the scenes, he admitted he didn’t view the interaction in a positive light.

“I thought that it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes but rather he was always favored and I was the one — I was suspended three times,” he said. “My appearances, I had two, three appearances scheduled weekly, then biweekly, then monthly, then they kind of disappeared. They were canceled in the last day right before I was supposed to go on, so I was really ticked off.”

Greg Gutfeld publicly lashed out at Rivera on Twitter after the longtime personality called Tucker Carlson’s encapsulation of the January 6th Insurrection as “bullshit”.

“You’re a class act, Geraldo. A real man of the people,” Gutfeld tweeted at Rivera after Carlson was fired. His appearances on The Five — of which Gutfeld is the de facto leader — were then limited.

SiriusXM Announces Coverage of The Open Championship

BSM Staff
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SiriusXM has announced its coverage plans for The Open Championship (PGA Tour, DP World Tour) from Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England – marking the 151st time the event has been held. The satellite broadcaster will provide listeners with 45 hours of live on-course coverage as golfers from around the world compete for the Claret Jug. The play-by-play will air starting next Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 24, the first two days of which will begin at 2 a.m. EST/11 p.m. PST (Wednesday, July 19). On Saturday and Sunday, the play-by-play of the proceedings will commence at 4 a.m. EST/1 p.m. PST – and commentary for all four days of action will remain on the air until the conclusion of play.

The Open Radio will be produced by The R&A and feature several former golfers and prominent on-air talent – including Ron Jones, Sophie Walker, Paul Eales and Marcus Buckland. SiriusXM personalities Maureen Madill and Carl Paulson will also serve as commentators and analysts throughout the competition. Once play concludes for the day, Will Haskett (Thursday-Friday) and Gary Williams (Saturday-Sunday) will bring listeners The Open Postgame show, which will recap all of the action and preview the day ahead. They will be joined by major champions John Cook, Hale Irwin, Scott Simpson and Dave Stockton and extrapolate their expertise for listeners to attain a better understanding of the sport.

“We’re very excited to deliver our listeners another extensive week of programming for the historic Open Championship,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer, in a statement. “Our coverage will feature live shot by shot commentary from voices who are excellent at capturing and conveying the character and excitement of Open Championship golf, as well as daily programming that will deliver all the latest news from the event and interviews with the competitors in the field. No matter where you are listening from across North America, you’ll feel like you are on the grounds at Royal Liverpool.”

SiriusXM will also air two Open Championship specials before the start of play next Thursday, the first of which is called Backstory. The one-hour program explores the history of Royal Liverpool Golf Club, its layout and stature in professional and amateur golf. Additionally, two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington and caddy Ronan Flood will discuss what it was like to capture a playoff victory at Carnoustie in 2007, and the program will also tell the story of five-time Open champion Peter Thomson. The program premieres on Friday, July 14 at 3 p.m. EST/12 p.m. PST, and it will be replayed multiple times during the days following.

Rory McIlroy and Ben Curtis are featured on the second special, The Open Show, where both golfers will talk about competing in the Open Championship. McIlroy won the last Open Championship played at Royal Liverpool in 2014, while Curtis is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his Open Championship victory at Royal St. George’s. The show will also recap the duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon in 2016 and discuss the meaning of the Claret Jug trophy. Listeners can tune in to the program during its premiere on Wednesday, July 19 at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST.

This year’s field for The Open Championship includes established stars, such as Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, all of whom are vying for a major championship in 2023. The final leg of the major championship docket also includes The Masters Tournament champion Jon Rahm, PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.

Keith Olbermann: Fox News, Tucker Carlson Said Things ‘Nearly Impossible to Defend’ About Ray Epps

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Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson are the defendants in a defamation lawsuit brought forth by Ray Epps, a private citizen, and Keith Olbermann believes the case will be tough to defend.

While discussing the lawsuit on his Countdown podcast Thursday, Olbermann argued that Epps has a strong case.

“His lawsuit is peppered with references to the lies Tucker Carlson told about him that the suit claims destroyed the lives of Epps and his wife, and forced them to flee their home and go live in an RV in an undisclosed location,” the former cable news host said.

While noting that the case is strong, Olbermann said it is not cut-and-dry. However, he did allege that one particular statement by Carlson could cost the host and his former network dearly.

“The Epps lawsuit is hardly a slam dunk, but it is filled with things Carlson or his guests said that will be nearly impossible for Fox to defend… There is one paragraph that is the most problematic for Fox and for Carlson, and one wonders how or if Epps will amend his lawsuit,” said Olbermann. “If Carlson picks this up on his Twitter program — which I believe is called ‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’.

“During the last gasp of Tucker Carlson on Fox, he had his big reveal of the unseen video from January 6 that was personally handed to him by the ‘Speaker Weasel of the House’, Kevin McCarthy. The reveal that turned out to be so underwhelming, so boring, so meaningless, that Carlson only showed a few minutes of it and some of that two and three times per clip. In that last gasp, Tucker Carlson and Fox News figuratively hanged themselves in terms of this lawsuit.”

Olbermann shared that in a segment on March 11th, Carlson used the term “informant”, twice, to describe Epps. The then Fox News host also used the word “fact” twice to describe Epps’ relationship with the FBI, calling the situation “very clear” and that “something very strange” was going on with Epps.

“So here’s the question: if Tucker Carlson was not trying to tell his audience on March 11 of this year that Ray Epps was a federal agent and an informant to influence the events of January 6th, what the hell else could Tucker Carlson have possibly been trying to say?”

Boomer & Gio Hope the Jets Embrace ‘Hard Knocks’

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Earlier this week, long-awaited news broke in the world of football that the New York Jets would be the featured team on the preseason edition of the NFL Films and HBO Sports documentary series, Hard Knocks. The cameras will be on the team throughout training camp and preseason games as new quarterback Aaron Rodgers seeks to help a burgeoning young core compete for a Super Bowl championship. The Jets were one of just four teams eligible to appear on Hard Knocks against criteria set forth by the National Football League.

In order to be featured on the show, a team must not have been on the program in the last decade, not have a first-year head coach or have made the playoffs in the last two seasons. For reference, the Jets have not qualified for the postseason since the last time the team appeared on Hard Knocks in 2010 – the longest drought in football. As a result, WFAN morning tandem Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti hope the franchise, which contained many key members hesitant towards the notion, embraces the attention in the No. 1 media market.

“Lean into it [and] have fun with it,” advised Giannotti on Thursday’s edition of Boomer & Gio. “Everybody assumes it’s going to screw up your season; it’s up to you to not let it. It’s not that big of a deal, and if anything look back at what happened in 2010. Jets players and [head coach] Rex Ryan became stars and they went to the AFC Championship Game that year.”

Esiason knew that the Hard Knocks appearance would ultimately be coerced on the Jets, especially since the widespread belief was that the team had the most interesting storyline. By acquiring Rodgers and signing a variety of dynamic talent, Esiasno believes the team decidedly won the offseason. From the Rodgers trade – which came after he took a four-night darkness retreat in the Cascade-Siskiyou Wilderness in southern Oregon – to the reigning NFL offensive and defensive rookies of the year, the storylines on the team are interminable to say the least.

“I’m sure that it took so long to make the announcement because I’m sure there was some kickback from the Jets not wanting to do this,” Esiason said. “….If you are a person who is in TV and resides in TV, you look for the most interesting story. They’re the most interesting story; they are on the top of everybody’s minds going into the season.”

Since Hard Knocks traditionally airs later in the day, Giannotti traditionally has watched the episode the next day. Now that the Jets will be on and he is hosting a morning radio show, watching the show each week will be an essential part of his preparation since it is likely to be a hot topic of discussion.

“For us, it’s going to be great because we’ll be able to talk about Hard Knocks because we’re going to want to watch it now,” Esiason remarked.

Speculation surrounding the Jets and Hard Knocks has been a frequent topic of discussion on Boomer & Gio over the last month. Now that the Jets are being featured on the show at the behest of head coach Robert Saleh, viewers will gain unique vantage points and perspectives regarding the action. The spotlight remains on the team in the regular season, as “Gang Green” is featured in six prime-time games, the maximum allowed under the current National Football League media rights agreement. Esiason and Giannotti will be attending Jets training camp and figure that they could make a Hard Knocks appearance themselves.

“They would be smart if they want us to promote it like we’re doing right now,” Esiason said. “Again, they had no choice – let’s just know that. I keep hearing people calling in [asking], ‘Why are the Jets doing this?’ They have no choice; they have to do it.”

Aaron Rodgers was officially traded to the New York Jets on April 26, two weeks before the NFL schedule was released. Esiason expressed on the air that the league needed the Rodgers situation to be resolved to ensure that the Jets would be prominently featured in primetime games.

“They needed to know that Aaron Rodgers was going to be on the team so they could set up the schedule the way that they did,” Esiason said. “This just goes – the Jets – it doesn’t matter because you have to win in the season.”

Esiason referenced how cameras followed Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to capture footage for the Netflix and Omaha Productions docuseries, Quarterbacks. At the end of the season, Mahomes was hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy and won the ESPY Award for “Best Male Athlete” at Wednesday night’s ceremony. Now as the Jets look to capture a Super Bowl title for the first time in 54 years, Giannotti genuinely hopes the team can stay focused and enjoy the notoriety.

“All this is going to do is fire up your fanbase even more for this team; to get a chance to see Aaron Rodgers behind the scenes doing what he’s doing with this young group,” Giannotti expressed. “This could only be a good thing in my eyes; just don’t let it distract you.”

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