Home Blog Page 2228

PAC-12 Expects Media Rights Deal By April

BSM Staff
-
0

It looks like the finish line is in sight for the Pac-12 to reach an agreement on a new media rights deal.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the conference should have a deal together in some fashion by the beginning of April.

Wilner wrote that ESPN, Apple and Amazon are interested in a partnership. Making a deal with the tech giants seemed to be well-received by conference presidents, who see the value in streaming. It’s possible both companies could get a piece of the Pac-12 pie.

Schools are expected to receive anywhere from $28.5 million to $34.9 million each year under the new deal.

Stephen A. Smith Says First Take Conversations Stick to ‘Football, Basketball, Baseball’

BSM Staff
-
0
Stephen A. Smith Says First Take Conversations Stick to ‘Football, Basketball, Baseball’

ESPN may be a rightsholder to the NHL, but don’t expect hockey to be a topic of discussion on First Take.

Stephen A. Smith had ESPN New York host and Yankees play-by-play voice Michael Kay on the show Thursday. Host Molly Qerim asked Kay who he thought the next New York team would be to win a championship. Kay responded saying the New York Rangers. But Stephen A. wasn’t having it.

“The only thing I know about hockey is that the puck is black,” Smith said. “And I love (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman. That’s my buddy.”

Qerim clarified that there was no disrespect meant to Rangers newcomer Patrick Kane and the team as a whole, but in terms of the show, the topics typically center around three main sports.

“Football, basketball, baseball,” Stephen A. said.

Kay followed that up by saying he believed either the Yankees or the Mets would win a title next.

FanDuel Becomes Official Sports Betting Partner of Major League Baseball

BSM Staff
-
0
FanDuel Becomes Official Sports Betting Partner of Major League Baseball

FanDuel will have an elevated presence on MLB broadcasts and in ballparks starting this season.

On Thursday it was announced that FanDuel had reached an agreement with Major League Baseball to become a co-exclusive official sports betting partner of the league.

FanDuel will be able to use official MLB branding and category designations in its sportsbooks and in marketing campaigns. Fans will be able to watch MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day through the FanDuel sportsbook app and on FanDuel+.

“The baseball fan is one of the most engaged in all of sports, which is why we’re delighted to be the new sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Our team is eager to showcase FanDuel in nationally broadcast MLB games and help enhance game narratives and bring America’s Pastime directly into our mobile app and OTT platform for fans to watch and wager,” FanDuel Group president Christian Genetski said in a statement. “We’re also very excited about the opportunity to work together with MLB on new betting product innovations that will give customers the opportunity to enhance their experience on every pitch from March until October.”

FanDuel has been an authorized gaming operator of MLB since 2019.

ESPN Wants To Be Hub For All Streaming Sports Services

BSM Staff
-
0

A concern many sports fans have is finding where a game their interested in watching is streaming. ESPN reportedly has a solution for that problem.

According to a report from CNBC, ESPN has had conversations with sports leagues and media entities about launching a feature on ESPN.com and its app that will link viewers directly to the game they would like to see.

The feature wouldn’t only be for games it produces and airs on its platforms, however. It would encompass all national and global streaming sites, including AppleTV+, Bally Sports+, Amazon Prime Video, and MSG+, among others.

CNBC claims regional sports networks have been receptive to the idea, stating they have “expressed particular optimism”.

ESPN currently only provides direct links to games it produces or televises, which encompasses a robust 30% of all televised sporting events. However, the goal with integrating streams from other carriers and channels into its app and website would continue to cement itself as the worldwide leader in sports and the first place sports fans go for live sports.

ESPN West Palm Celebrates 20th Anniversary

BSM Staff
-
0

Good Karma Brands has reached a milestone in South Florida. The company’s ESPN West Palm brand is celebrating 20 years on the air. The festivities are happening both on and off the air.

On the air, listeners will hear a 20-hour broadcast beginning at midnight on March 3. It will include several voices from across the country that have had an impact on the station’s two-decade life.

The city of West Palm Beach will also join the celebration. Mayor Keith James is set to declare Friday ESPN West Palm Day, to recognize the station’s local impact.

Stephanie Prince, market manager of ESPN West Palm and Vice President at Good Karma Brands, says the station isn’t keeping the biggest gifts from the celebration for itself. It will celebrate the milestone by donating $20,000 to local charities.

“The success of ESPN West Palm is intimately tied to the passion of area sports fans, the talent and coverage team dedicated to serving them, and the advertising partners who have successfully leveraged the assets to achieve their business goals,” said Steve Politzner, who moved to the area to launch the station in 2003 and now serves as the President of Good Karma Brands.

“So many teammates throughout GKB started at ESPN West Palm and have carried their experiences, education, and grit to other markets across GKB. We are excited to celebrate with our partners, fans, and teammates on a great 20 years and look forward to the future.”

NAB Sends Congress Letter In Support Of Non-Compete Clauses

BSM Staff
-
0
NAB Sends Congress Letter In Support Of Non-Compete Clauses

The Federal Trade Commission wants non-compete clauses to be a thing of the past at radio stations across the country. The National Association of Broadcasters is pushing back. The group sent a letter to Congress this week opposing the FTC’s proposal.

“The FTC lacks the constitutional or statutory authority to issue such a rule and, in attempting to do so, the agency is improperly usurping the role of Congress,” the letter reads.

The NAB makes a case for what it calls “reasonable non-compete clauses”. The group’s letter notes that the clauses are necessary because companies make “substantial investments” in promoting on-air talent.

Non-compete clauses have been found by “courts, scholars, and economists” to be an effective means of protecting intellectual property, according to the letter. The NAB also adds that when reasonable and promoting of competition, non-competes work. When those conditions are not met, they fail. That makes a total ban unnecessary.

“The FTC has not attempted to promulgate a competition rule for decades, across administrations of both parties,” the letter states. “In the past, Congress curbed FTC’s excesses with appropriations riders, and we encourage Congress to revisit such tools today.”

Brett Winterble Signs Extension At WBT

BNM Staff
-
0
Brett Winterble Signs Extension At WBT

WBT host Brett Winterble has signed a multi-year extension to remain with the Radio One Charlotte station.

“From the moment I walked into the legendary WBT Radio it felt like home,” said Winterble.  “I am so thankful for the welcome and support I received from our clients, listeners, and incredible staff over these past 3 years. I am truly honored to continue this relationship with the best creators in the business. 

“I am particularly grateful for the support of Urban One/Radio One, Marsha Landess, Alfred Liggins, David Kantor, Mike Schaefer, and Kraig Kitchin in helping me to realize this professional dream. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us.”

The Brett Winterble Show — which debuted on WBT in February 2020 — airs from 3:00-6:00 PM, and was named the number two ranked mid-market afternoon program in the Barrett News Media Top 20 series in late 2022.

 “Brett is a consummate professional, a true talent, and a bright and friendly presence both on the air and in the halls of these great radio stations,” said Marsha Landess, Regional Vice President and General Manager for Radio One Charlotte. “We are thrilled that Brett Winterble will be part of the future of WBT for many years to come.”

Andrew Fillipponi: ‘No Idea is a Bad Idea’ To Keep Penguins, Pirates Games On Air

BSM Staff
-
0
Andrew Fillipponi: ‘No Idea is a Bad Idea’ To Keep Penguins, Pirates Games On Air

AT&T SportsNet — the regional sports network brand owned by Warner Bros. Discovery — will cease operations in the coming weeks, leaving several professional sports franchises wondering where their games will be broadcast in the future. In Pittsburgh, one of the markets affected by the shutdown, 93.7 The Fan afternoon host Andrew Fillipponi wondered if a similar concept to that in New York could work.

Yesterday, MSG Networks announced it will launch a streaming service — MSG+ — in a direct-to-consumer model. The subscription will cost $29.99 per month or $309.99 for the calendar year. MSG will also offer pay-per-view broadcasts of individual games for $9.99, which Fillipponi questioned as the potential future for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins.

“I’m not saying it will happen, I’m not saying it won’t happen, I think it’s possible something like this happens to the Pirates and Penguins starting next month,” Fillipponi said. “They don’t have a channel. If you want to watch the game, you go to the Pirates app or the Penguins app, you pay $9.99 a game, or X amount dollars a month, or Y amount of dollars for the entire year.

“If that happens, I wonder what kind of appetite sports fans in Pittsburgh will have for something like that. At the end of March, there are still — at that point — a half dozen or so Penguins games on the schedule that could determine what happens to them if they make the playoffs or not. Would you pay $9.99 a game to watch those games?… These are legitimate questions…because if the higher-ups at the Pirates and Penguins aren’t asking these hypothetical questions and then trying to do market research on it, then they’re not really that smart.”

Fillipponi continued by saying the two franchises have plenty of ideas to brainstorm.

“These are the types of things they should be exploring right now. This is ‘No idea is a bad idea’ time of season. The channel that airs our games is going bankrupt. It’s going bye-bye. It’s gone. It’s gonna disappear. How do we wanna get our games out there? How are people gonna watch us? $9.99 per Penguins game. Would you pay that? $10 a game? $30 a month? Hundreds of dollars for the season?”

Troy Aikman Doesn’t See Himself Leaving TV to Pursue GM Opportunities

BSM Staff
-
0

Troy Aikman is one of the best-known broadcasters in the NFL. Thanks to a long career at FOX and last year’s debut in the Monday Night Football booth, fans have come to associate his voice with some of football’s biggest games each week.

Rumors have persisted for a while that calling games may not be the only association with the NFL in Aikman’s future. He has been mentioned as a candidate for general manager jobs in the past.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback addressed those rumors in an interview with Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy. Troy Aikman says he thinks he could be successful managing a franchise’s roster, but it isn’t something he is considering right now.

“I think I could right now if I decided that hey, this is a goal of mine,” he said. “It would mean giving up television in order to do that. I think right now, I’m in a good place with my career. I really enjoy the people that I work with. I’m as happy as I’ve ever been. So more than likely that’s something that’s not going to happen.”

Troy Aikman isn’t closing the door entirely, though. The idea of winning a fourth Super Bowl, this time as a member of a team’s front office, is something that he has sat with for a long time.

“I will say, and I’ve said it all along, that when my days on this Earth come to an end or are winding down if I haven’t done that, I’ll always wonder. And I wonder right now,” Aikman told McCarthy. “I think I’d be good. But you never know unless you do it. So those will always be questions that I’ll have for myself as to whether or not I could have done the job that I believe I can.”

For now, Troy Aikman is dedicated to television and specifically to ESPN. He and Joe Buck will be calling their second season of Monday Night Football for the worldwide leader in the fall.

Matt Spiegel: MLB’s Big Inning Helped By New Rules

BSM Staff
-
0

For better or worse, NFL RedZone has revolutionized the way many sports fans consume game broadcasts. 670 The Score afternoon host Matt Spiegel believes that might have been in mind as MLB made some rule changes.

MLB will offer MLB.tv subscribers a service called MLB Big Inning, which will mimic NFL RedZone. A host will take viewers from game to game, highlighting the closest games from 9:00-11:30 PM ET Monday through Saturday and 3:00-5:30 PM ET on Sundays.

Spiegel argued that Major League Baseball’s new rules will make game lengths more universal, thus creating more games available to be shown on the service.

“The ghost runner ruler, which I dig. I’m a proponent of. One of the reasons I like it is it’s forced, immediate, reliable strategy…immediately, the game is in jeopardy,” Spiegel said. “Right away, if you see that there’s a close game in the ninth inning, you want to tune in, and if it’s in the 10th or 11th, you know that there’s a ghost runner and there’s action immediately. You’re not just sitting around waiting.

“And now, we get the rule change component building it. If the pitch clock is not just cutting 32 minutes off the game length and giving you the shortest game lengths in spring training, so far, since 1985… it’s also making it uniform. Unless something really weird happens, the game is between two hours and twenty minutes and two hours and fifty minutes, pretty reliably. So if you’ve got a bunch of games starting at the same time, you might have — as a realistic viewing option — MLB Big Inning with multiple games in the eighth inning, ninth inning, and extras all at the same time…that could become more of an option for people.”

Spiegel concluded having six or seven games each night in the final stages of the contest shown on MLB Big Inning “could be advantageous for the sport and marketing your players nationally”.

1...2,2272,2282,229...2,774Page 2,228 of 2,774