The Sports Media Thread

[dfwabel]

1 minute ago, the admiral said:

Mike Tirico is calling Hawks-Wings in what I believe is his first NHL game (or at least first since ESPN had games) and in my opinion he's doing a very good job. You can tell he's being sort of cautious, but that mostly means no Emrickian flights of fancy, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

Tirico has never called a hockey game, at any level, in his career. 

[dfwabel]

On 2/19/2019 at 11:13 PM, the admiral said:

local NBA ratings are getting really bad

 

 

I'm a little surprised that Bulls ratings are going down the way they are because usually their ratings and especially their gate have been pretty insulated from poor performance. But there is something that feels breaking-point about this Bulls season: The brazenness of replacing one dumb coach with another, even dumber coach is a big part of it, but I think it's the reality of how the influx of new TV money gives the organization no impetus to do anything but collect those checks and indulge their weird Hoosiers fantasies. I must not be the only one who senses a deeper despair than that of the Hoiberg years.

 

LeBron in the Western Conference impacts the numbers, in addition to the NBA backloads the marquee games after the NFL playoffs.

 

[The_Admiral]

The Barstool-Deadspin feud goes mainstream in the pages of the WaPo: "At Deadspin, can the cool kids of the sports Internet become its moral authority?"

 

Can children of privilege who live in Brooklyn be moral scolds on the internet? Oh, gosh, I dunno, I think they just might be able to pull it off!

[Kevin W.]

On 2/20/2019 at 5:09 PM, the admiral said:

Mike Tirico is calling Hawks-Wings in what I believe is his first NHL game (or at least first since ESPN had games) and in my opinion he's doing a very good job. You can tell he's being sort of cautious, but that mostly means no Emrickian flights of fancy, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

Being a skilled sportscaster for one sport doesn't always translate well to other sports but in Tirico's case, it did. I was very impressed with how well he handled himself and I would hope that he gets a look at doing more games in the future. Maybe not now, but in the future, he could even be on the call for some playoff games since they won't interfere with his NFL work.

[dfwabel]

2 hours ago, Kevin W. said:

Being a skilled sportscaster for one sport doesn't always translate well to other sports but in Tirico's case, it did. I was very impressed with how well he handled himself and I would hope that he gets a look at doing more games in the future. Maybe not now, but in the future, he could even be on the call for some playoff games since they won't interfere with his NFL work.e

He's got a pretty full May now that Costas is gone.  He's going to host the Triple Crown races plus the Indy 500. 

[MadmanLA]

Another MLB team gets in bed with Sinclair Broadcasting...The Yankees, along with Amazon, Sinclair, and Blackstone Capital are buying the YES Network for $3.5 billion...

https://deadline.com/2019/03/yes-network-sold-for-3-5b-to-yankees-amazon-sinclair-private-equity-reports-1202572010/

[dfwabel]

CBS and NBC will swap Super Bowls

 

From Variety:

Quote

CBS and NBC will switch up the rotation for the broadcast of the 2021 (Tampa) and 2022 (Los Angeles) Super Bowls, a move that lets both networks pair the gridiron classic with other big sports events in their portfolios.

 

CBS, which was supposed to broadcast the event next in 2022, will instead take the 2021 broadcast, while NBC will move back a year, CBS, NBC and the NFL confirmed Wednesday.

 

The arrangement allows NBC to align the Super Bowl with its 2022 broadcast of the Winter Olympics, and gives CBS a Super Bowl that won’t have to compete with the NBC sports extravaganza. The switch will also give CBS a chance to have both a Super Bowl broadcast and top-ranked college basketball in the same year. The network gets to air the NCAA Final Four basketball championship that year; CBS and WarnerMedia, which air that tournament jointly, rotate the broadcast of the final game.

2

 

[Tracy Jordan]

On 3/14/2019 at 10:13 AM, dfwabel said:

CBS and NBC will swap Super Bowls

 

From Variety:

 

 

I wonder what the odds are that we'll see Al Michaels calling his last NFL game in the 2022 Super Bowl (Los Angeles). You guys think he'll do another three years?

[dfwabel]

Starting with UFC 236 on April 13, UFC PPVs will stream on ESPN+ as opposed to the traditional cable/satellite PPV model in the US.

 

Quote

UFC^® and ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer sports video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN, today announced an agreement that will deliver value and simplicity to mixed martial arts fans, making ESPN+ the exclusive distributor of UFC Pay-Per-View events in the United States through 2025. The agreement will make ESPN+ the single point of purchase for consumers of the biggest UFC events throughout the year and the definitive destination for fans to get the most comprehensive coverage of UFC.

 

Starting with UFC^® 236: HOLLOWAY vs. POIRIER 2 on April 13, ESPN+ becomes the exclusive distributor in the United States of all UFC PPV events, showcasing 12 blockbuster live events per year from the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, for each of the next seven years. The agreement adds a new business model to ESPN+ and builds upon the historic multi-platform rights agreement announced in 2018, which is now extended through 2025.

 

UFC PPV events sold through ESPN+ will include all bouts on the Main Event fight cards and will be streamed in high definition in both English and Spanish. Preliminary bouts for all UFC PPV events will continue to air nationally on ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish) under the agreement announced in 2018. Early preliminary bouts will be available to all ESPN+ subscribers, as well as on UFC FIGHT PASS and to those who have purchased the PPV. UFC will continue to sell its PPV events to commercial establishments.

 

In addition to giving MMA fans a one-stop home for all UFC PPV events, ESPN+ pricing and packaging will deliver new value to fans as well:

• New ESPN+ subscribers will get one-year of ESPN+ and a UFC PPV event for $79.99;
• Existing ESPN+ subscribers will be able to purchase UFC PPV events for $59.99 per event.

 

 

[MJWalker45]

Anyone else enjoying Chauncey Billups giving Pierce so much crap for complaining about the Celtics original plan to give IT a tribute video on Paul Pierce night? Pierce finally cracked after saying he wasn't involved with it. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

How will the ESPN+ deal affect bars and other places like that? Don't they currently have special distribution deals?

[dfwabel]

8 hours ago, DG_Now said:

How will the ESPN+ deal affect bars and other places like that? Don't they currently have special distribution deals?

From the release...

 

Quote

UFC will continue to sell its PPV events to commercial establishments.

That pricing is determined by square footage and/or Fire Code occupancy.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

22 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

From the release...

 

That pricing is determined by square footage and/or Fire Code occupancy. 

 

Ah.

 

Is $60 the going rate for UFC PPVs? If not, doesn't it feel like if you pay $5/month, you should get a break on the full price of the big show?

[dfwabel]

16 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Is $60 the going rate for UFC PPVs? If not, doesn't it feel like if you pay $5/month, you should get a break on the full price of the big show?

 

$54.99 for those who still had SD. $64.99 was the going rate for the last PPV on HD cable and $10 more for the 4K feed.  They and DirecTV couldn't come to an agreement in February as UFC wanted a 70/30 split of the PPV price, as opposed to the traditional 50/50.

 

The ESPN+ cost will be $59.99

Edited March 19, 2019 by dfwabel

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Just now, dfwabel said:

$64.99 was the going rate for the last PPV on cable and $10 more for the 4K feed.  They and DirecTV couldn't come to an agreement in February as UFC wanted a 70/30 split of the PPV price, as opposed to the traditional 50/50. 

  

The ESPN+ cost will be $59.99

 

So you get $5 off and no 4K option. Is the UFC community okay with this? You're paying $60/year just for access to buy more $60 PPVs (intro price notwithstanding).

 

I think ESPN+ is a great deal and I have no interest in the UFC content at all. Interesting to see ESPN branch out the platform for more uses like this. It's too bad they couldn't get Champions League rights; I don't think I would have paid over the top for access to those games, but it would have been nice for a non-Bleacher Report option.

[dfwabel]

14 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

 

So you get $5 off and no 4K option. Is the UFC community okay with this? You're paying $60/year just for access to buy more $60 PPVs (intro price notwithstanding).

 

I think ESPN+ is a great deal and I have no interest in the UFC content at all. Interesting to see ESPN branch out the platform for more uses like this. It's too bad they couldn't get Champions League rights; I don't think I would have paid over the top for access to those games, but it would have been nice for a non-Bleacher Report option.

 

I know that DirecTV had the 4K option, but as for other satellite and cable operators, IDK.

 

As for the bolded point, that's something I'd visit Sherdog for to find out. 

[Digby]

2 hours ago, DG_Now said:

 

So you get $5 off and no 4K option. Is the UFC community okay with this? You're paying $60/year just for access to buy more $60 PPVs (intro price notwithstanding).

 

I think ESPN+ is a great deal and I have no interest in the UFC content at all. Interesting to see ESPN branch out the platform for more uses like this. It's too bad they couldn't get Champions League rights; I don't think I would have paid over the top for access to those games, but it would have been nice for a non-Bleacher Report option.

 

Not to mention it coulda been a throwback to the days of Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth. My formative soccer-watching years!

[dfwabel]

Count The Dings (f/k/a ESPN's True Hoop podcast) is going behind The Athletic's paywall.

 

I don't think I've listened to them since mid-December since it just isn't as good as it was with ESPN's backing.  I guess this is more stability for Jade, but I am shocked that 1300 folks donated on Patreon just to hear Big Woz complain and Trey act like he's an insider. 

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I stopped listening ages ago. They were the best basketball podcast when they combined Wos, Trey, Amin, Windhorst and Rachel Nichols, but Jade as a performer stinks and the post-ESPN show had too much of the bad stuff.

 

They switched to Trey bossa noving stuff, right? That's not okay.

 

I wish them well, but the magic they had is long, long gone.

[Sport]

https://deadspin.com/the-one-ingredient-missing-from-this-disgusting-hot-dog-1833438926

 

Two things. First of all, calm down, Deadspin. This article is more self-indulgent than the article it's about. But Second of all, I don't care about the hot dog or Wilder's puff piece about the hot dog, and I don't care about Deadspin trashing Charlotte Wilder because I actually kind of agree with them when it comes to her - I must admit I find her sweaty and not a particularly deft writer and can't believe she landed a job with SI. Her article about the Patriots Super Bowl win read like a 2 am last minute paper for a freshman writing class. I don't understand her appeal, but Deadspin is far too cynical and nobody should spend too much time there, and they are being ultra grouchy here. 

 

I'm mostly posting this because it reminded me of something I noticed a while ago and it's growing and I hate it - It's this brand of online writing and podcasting where in substitution of having an actual personality, the entire schtick, the joke, is that you treat very trivial matters as if they're very important, like the breadth of how much you love a stupid thing is the joke. "I LOVE bad action movies, I wept during the latest Fast and the Furious movie, I waited in line for 3 days for John Wick 2 isnt that hilarious????" No. Don't misunderstand, it's not "never talk about trivial things" it's more like please stop acting like it's so WACKY that you went to Arizona to write about a hot dog and if you are gonna do that please write some jokes into the article. This is essentially The Ringer's entire bit.

 

In conclusion, calm down, Deadspin, you're not in a position to have a moral high ground, but also let's find some new angles besides "isn't it so funny how much we like this very dumb thing?".