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ESPN Signs Brock Osweiler as a College Football Analyst

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ESPN has added to its college football coverage for the upcoming season. The network announced it has signed former NFL quarterback and Arizona State standout Brock Osweiler as a college football analyst.

Osweiler will partner with play-by-play commentator Anish Shroff and sideline reporter Taylor McGregor on a package of games this season. Osweiler was the first quarterback in Arizona State’s history to throw for more than 4,000 yards and was a second-round draft pick in 2012 by the Denver Broncos.

“College football is so special, and there’s nothing like the pageantry and excitement that takes over the stadium on a fall Saturday,” said Osweiler. “I can’t wait to be part of the team at ESPN and share the perspective and passion I have for the game I love. Since retiring, I’ve thought about football every day and I’m truly excited for this next chapter.”

“Brock is a tremendous addition to our industry-leading crew of college football commentators,” said Steve Ackels, ESPN vice president, production. “He brings a fantastic football IQ and perspective to the booth. We look forward to having him join our team this season.”

ESPN will announce its full roster of college football commentating crews the first week of August.

Chuck Barrett Joins ESPN Arkansas

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The voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks football and basketball teams, Chuck Barrett, is joining ESPN Arkansas’ radio and online stations. That is set to begin Monday.

Barrett will co-host The Morning Rush on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft. Barrett will also make weekly appearances on Halftime with Phil Elson as well as Ruscin & Zach.

“I’m excited to join the team at ESPN Arkansas and excited to be back on the air on a daily basis,” Chuck Barrett said. “Tommy and I have discussed this for over a year, and with another exciting football season right around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better! My greatest joy in broadcasting is talking with sports fans in Arkansas. I can’t wait to get started.”

Barrett, an Arkansas native, hosted the state-wide talk show Sports Rap between 1995-2007.

He was selected as the play-by-play announcer for Arkansas football in 2007 and added men’s basketball to his assignments in 2010 along with baseball, his first assignment with the Razorbacks.

“Chuck Barrett has long been the gold standard for sports radio enthusiasts in our state. In many ways Chuck is the one who paved the way for the growth of sports radio in our state,” said Tommy Craft, market manager for Pearson Broadcasting. “We are thrilled to welcome Chuck back to our weekday lineup and even more excited for all the listeners who will enjoy his insights and opinions on a regular basis.”

FOX Sports Announces Hiring of Jason Benetti

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A week after being rumored to be interested in leaving ESPN for FOX Sports, Jason Benetti is officially a member of the FOX family.

The network announced the official addition of play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti. Brad Zager, President of Production/Operations and Executive Producer, FOX Sports says that Benetti’s assignments will begin with college football this fall.

“Jason is a top-tier broadcaster that elevates every production he joins,” said Zager. “His reputation precedes him, and we are excited to add his passion for sports and broadcasting to our lineup starting this fall.”

“I am simply ecstatic to join FOX Sports,” said Benetti. “The company has a reputation for first-class live sports coverage and first-class people behind that coverage. I’m honored to be a part of that team.”

Benetti has been with ESPN for eleven years and in 2016 he was named the voice of the Chicago White Sox. This year he also is the voice of NBC Sports’ MLB Sunday afternoon package on Peacock.

Laura Rutledge: Mina Kimes Is a “True Trailblazer”

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Laura Rutledge is the host of NFL Live, ESPN’s weekday offering of NFL news, notes and analysis. She joined the show as a host in 2020 and since then has been partnered with a bevy analysts including Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson and others. One, however, was singled out on her latest podcast appearance.

She joined The Press Box with Bryan Curtis to discuss her media career that boomed from local high school recruiting writer to host with the ESPN family of networks. Curtis asked Rutledge what the process was like realizing she was ready for the role she is in now, hosting NFL Live and SEC Nation during the college football season.

“I still struggle with that daily,” Rutledge admitted. “It’s something that I think is really important for us to do as women, because the second we decide: ‘we’re good, we’re good to go here. We are prepared and we know so much about this, we love this sport’ then no one can take that from us.”

She says she has had struggles with some, in the industry and outside of it, who have not been as supportive of her. However, the daily she she hosts now, is a welcoming and empowering environment.

“Our NFL Live group is a lot of men, right? We’ve got a great female presence on the show with Mina Kimes, but we’ve got Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark, Keyshawn Johnson, Adam Schefter. They support us,” relayed Rutledge. “They treat us as equals.”

Rutledge then went on to offer some high praise of Kimes. “Mina… she is such a rare, cutting-edge, true trailblazer of a talent. I can’t overstate how important she is to the space and how much she matters and what she’s brought to the table. She’s in a different category than me because she’s a true analyst and she’s true gamechanger in so many ways.”

John Ourand: ESPN ‘A Wild Card,’ CBS ‘Extremely Aggressive’ In Big Ten Negotiations

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John Ourand: ESPN ‘A Wild Card,’ CBS ‘Extremely Aggressive’ In Big Ten Negotiations

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand told Jimmy Traina on the latest episode of Sports Illustrated Media Podcast that the Big Ten’s new landmark media rights deal is expected in the coming weeks, and ESPN is no longer considered a front runner to land the rights of the Power 5 conference.

“I’m told at some point in August. It should come down before Labor Day,” Ourand said when asked when to expect an announcement. “Fox is certain to keep it. If I’m going to handicap it, I still think CBS has to have something. They’re losing the SEC on Saturday afternoons. That’s a big hole. I would expect CBS to be extremely aggressive in terms of keeping it (the 3:30 ET Saturday slot).”

Ourand said ESPN, who has held some, or at times all, of the Big Ten’s rights has been relegated to a “wild card” in the negotiation. He also noted Amazon Prime Video could still be a player, but league power brokers could be hesitant to strike a deal with the streaming platform.

“The conference and the university presidents are going to be ok with taking a couple of games and putting them on a streaming service like Amazon? You wanna talk ‘old school’? College athletics is very old school,” Ourand joked.

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren originally said the rights deals were expected to be announced before Memorial Day, but that timeline became complicated by the addition of USC and UCLA to the conference.

A report from Scott Dochterman of The Athletic indicated conference members are expecting rights fees per school to rise from $57 million per year to at least $80 million with the new deal.

Linda Cohn: Sports Media Needs More Women In Hiring Positions

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Linda Cohn is celebrating her 30th year on SportsCenter in 2022. She is one of the few remaining faces from the era when the show catapulted into the mainstream spotlight.

Cohn has done several interviews in recent weeks asking her to reflect on her accomplishments and the show’s evolution.

In a recent conversation with Axios Sports, the ESPN legend was asked to reflect on the state of women in the sports media business. She said there is still progress that needs to be made.

“The biggest change that has to take place, which isn’t moving fast enough for me, is having women in management positions to hire more women,” she said.

Linda Cohn was quick to point out there there hasn’t been a lack of opportunities for women that want to cover sports. It has been the chance to make decisions for an organization that she wants to see improve.

“We’ve been getting opportunities for years, but if it wasn’t for certain men in management positions who gave me the chance to prove myself, I never would have been able to carve out this path.”

In addition to her work for SportsCenter, Cohn has been a lynchpin of ESPN’s NHL coverage in recent years. She serves as a studio host for the network’s coverage of the league and hosts the In the Crease podcast alongside Emily Kaplan.

94 WIP Unveils 2 New Shows For Glen Macnow

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94 WIP Unveils 2 New Shows For Glen Macnow

Ray Didinger’s May retirement has created a pair of weekend openings on 94 WIP. New shows were officially announced Thursday morning during Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team.

As previously reported, Glen Macnow will pair with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski for a new Saturday show from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM.

“I wanted somebody with strong opinions,” Macnow said. “I wanted somebody who could craft an argument. I wanted someone who creates content outside of here (94 WIP).”

Macnow also announced the beginning of a new Sunday show with his former partner and longtime WIP host Jody McDonald. The pair hosted Mac and Mac on WIP for six years in the 1990s.

“I have a comfort level with Jody,” Macnow said. “He’s the guy I broke in with. He’s the guy our listeners heard me with 28 years ago. Working with Jody’s like an old pair of shoes. It’s easy, it’s fun, and I like it.”

It’s likely Macnow and McDonald’s show will be routinely preempted by Philadelphia Eagles pregame coverage. WIP is the flagship station of the Eagles Radio Network.

NFL Expansion Options: Cities That Would Be Perfect Grounds For NFL Expansion

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NFL Expansion Options: Cities That Would Be Perfect Grounds For NFL Expansion

With 32 clubs and eight divisions, the NFL appears to be perfectly balanced, but it doesn’t preclude the possibility of expansion team ideas. According to rumors, there are plans to include more NFL games as a part expansion debates and regulations in the league headquarters. The idea of the league growing to 40 clubs is being considered.

Naturally, even if all of this is merely conjecture, we can still discuss potential NFL expansion teams for fun. There are favorite prospective NFL expansion destinations just in case the league adds new teams at some time.

In the not-too-distant future, there may be more than six NFL expansion franchises. While some communities are attempting to position themselves to receive a franchise, the league undoubtedly has some possible NFL expansion cities in mind. This article will outline the cities considered perfect grounds for a stretch.

What Is The NFL Considering?

The league now generates $15 billion in revenue annually. Even so, the NFL has seen its popularity level off and, in some cases, decline due to falling television viewership, decreased participation, and unfavorable fan reactions to social justice protests. However, the NFL won’t be shrinking any time soon.

There’s no doubt that the first franchise will move to London. To make a London franchise a reality, it will take at least two rich owners to become frustrated with local governments that refuse to grant them hundreds of millions more for new stadiums.

It looked like the ideal moment to pretend to be NFL Commissioner and instruct Roger Goodell on how to earn his $20 million salary and bring the NFL to London because the New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, is pushing for this to happen.

How can the league continue to develop football while leveraging the relative prosperity of its products? The answer is NFL enlargement. Here’s a concise list of cities under consideration.

1. Oakland

Only a few years have passed since the Raiders left Oakland, and the community would undoubtedly adore a new team. Fans in Oakland would undoubtedly welcome an expansion team because they didn’t particularly want to see the Raiders depart.

Remember that neither of the two Bay Area cities is exactly where the 49ers play their home games. A new team in Oakland might prosper for a long time and be in a division with either the 49ers or the Raiders with a new downtown stadium.

2. London

The NFL would adore having a permanent franchise in London. To minimize movements to the barest, the NFL could only arrange for the London franchise to play Eastern Coast teams. This would make travel a little more challenging. There are many current stadium choices, including the recently constructed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, designed with plans to host NFL games in mind.

In addition to the NFL’s adamant desire to expand, London is another sensible option. It is only two hours from the East Coast, and there is only a five-hour time zone difference. Additionally, if the city decided to host an NFL team, it already has plenty of arenas and a sizable population of crazed sports enthusiasts.

3. Toronto

The NFL can also travel internationally to Toronto in addition to London. The catch is that it’s already home to a Canadian Footbal League (CFL) franchise and is practically too near to Buffalo.

Sharing a stadium with the NFL and CFL could be challenging because their fields are of different sizes. That might compel Toronto to construct an NFL-specific stadium .

4. Austin

Many people are still shocked that Austin does not have a professional sports team because there’s Austin FC, an expansion team in the MLS. Since Austin is the Texas state capital, hosting tens of thousands of football fans on Saturdays is not a problem.

Dallas and Houston are far enough out from the metropolis to have their fan bases. Austin is already such a vibrant and active city that a football stadium in the downtown area would be a wonderful enhancement.

5. San Antonio

An NFL team would already have a home stadium as San Antonio already has the Alamodome. There’s no doubt that San Antonio, in football-loving Texas, could support an NFL club as it is also a city that has long supported an NBA team.

Just one of Austin or San Antonio will likely get a club because the league is unlikely to desire teams in both cities. San Antonio might be a better choice than Austin because it’s a little further away from Houston and Dallas.

Conclusion

The NFL has many jobs on its hand in line with extending the franchise of this widely watched sport to other stadiums not yet on the league’s list. True, this sport needs to be spread across the globe.

In the same vein, the league officials should look into these prospective stadiums and cities critically to avoid backlash and redundancy due to low interest amongst viewers in these regions. The strength of the fan base should also be seriously considered while the franchise allocation is going on.

17th Regular Season Game Helped NFL Generate $4.4 Billion In Ad Revenue

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Don’t expect the NFL to go back to sixteen regular season games any time soon. The proof that adding an extra regular season game is in the numbers.

According to Front Office Sports, the league generated $4.4 billion in ad revenue for the 2021 season. That is a fourteen percent increase in revenue over the previous season.

More inventory allowed the league to raise prices too. Late buys on NBC’s Sunday Night Football saw a rate increase from $600,00 to $800,000. On average, rates on all networks for a 30-second in-game ad rose by 3%.

Revenue has not been a problem for the NFL for a long time. The league brings in around $10 billion annually from its television deals with Amazon, CBS, Disney, and NBC. The rights to NFL Sunday Ticket are on the block right now and are expected to generate another $2.5 billion when the deal is finalized.

Urban One CEO: ‘No Decisions’ After Dan Dakich Controversy

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After purchasing 4 Indianapolis radio stations, including 93.5/107.5 The Fan and 93.1 WIBC, Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins told The Indianapolis Star that no decisions have been made on any personnel of the stations.

The questions linger after a report from the Star’s Gregg Doyel that the Fan’s Dan Dakich told off-color jokes at a station event last month, in the presence of Urban One executives.

After reporting the original story about the off-color jokes, it appeared Doyel insinuated on Twitter that Dakich would soon be fired for his comments.

“When he’s gone from the public eye, and it won’t be long now, we’ll remember the self-immolation of Dan Dakich as one of the strangest, saddest stories in our city’s sports history,” Doyel wrote.

Alfred Liggens cut any questions or speculation about what is in store for Dakich off immediately.

“I want to preface this by saying I’m happy to talk, but I know the stations here in Indy have a few controversial personalities,” he told the Star. “I don’t have real depth of knowledge about those personalities.”

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