The Topics …

• The Schefter succession talk is ….

• Adam Silver vs. Rob Manfred comparison

• Where do Ian Eagle, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery rank in all-time college hoops TV history

• Why are the “Chainsmokers” doing a concert between Final Four games

• On a Fox MLB booth: One up, One down

• Yahoo’s Tom Haberstroh’s tremendous article about how the terrible number of stars playing on ABC/ ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video

• Don’t teach people not to care, which the NBA is in danger of doing

• Who are the favorites to be in ESPN’s No. 2 NFL booth

• A name ESPN is considering after some felt it wronged him

• More on Schefter, Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo

• The Tomlin Sweepstakes: Who is in the lead and who is likely out

• The big money ask …

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• Reacting to Netflix’s Elle Duncan’s comments about the platform being criticized for its MLB coverage

• What ESPN’s Super Bowl coverage should learn from Netflix’s Opening Day

• Analyzing the Men’s and Women’s Final Four coverage

• Amazon Prime Video will have The Masters this week for the first time

• Do we care about the new “Hard Knocks” …

• If John Ourand had a Chris Berman nickname, what would it be ….

• Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: John Ourand is The Main Event

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Soltys is one of the producers on “Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN,” that debuts on Monday, April 6th. It’s also an audiobook.

FULL RUNDOWN …

• ESPN, ‘Sports Heaven’ & the greatest media success story ever told

• What was the feeling around ESPN in 1979 when it launched

• The “believers” vs. the “crazy idea” square-off

• Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN, got fired and …

• Why Bristol, CT as ESPN’s headquarters & the advantage of the location

• George Bodenheimer & culture

• The odd office Soltys started his career in

• The story behind how SportsCenter became SportsCenter

• The alternative names for SportsCenter

• How Rasmussen’s first idea was just to only do Connecticut sports

• And then an RCA satellite salesman came by and …

• Technical difficulties …

• What was Chris Berman like in the early years

• Running to the banks to deposit checks to make sure they worked

• The NFL and MLB made it feel like ESPN had arrived

• George Brett bringing back Chris Berman’s nicknames after an executive killed them

• How SC Top 10 is still a big deal

• The $51M NFL deal for the Sunday Night package in 1987

• Who are the three most important people in ESPN’s history

• The Bodenheimer-Jimmy Pitaro comparison

• John Skipper was the most fun top exec — and Cuba

• Steve Bornstein fought to keep SportsCenter going

• The credibility of Chet Simmons as ESPN president

• ESPN tried putting business news into its programs, and Soltys wasn’t a fan of it

• Richard Branson and the spirit of just trying stuff

• The ESPN-ABC Sports war

• Rudy Martzke, Phil Mushnick, Richard Sandomir, et. al. …

• How Mark Shapiro brought the media attention to another level

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• All the major newspapers had a sports media columnist and “the straws that stir the drink.”

• Martzke’s Sunday greeting to Soltys after church

• Soltys, Keith Olbermann and the greatest sports PR quote in history

• Soltys liked working with Olbermann

• The quote was buried in the USA Today column

• “He didn’t burn bridges here, he napalmed them”

• The media relations game and Martzke

• What’s next for the documentary

• The 1979 culture of ESPN is still alive in 2026

• “I’ll work for free,” were the magic words

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  Some Related Podcasts (there are more)

• Chris LaPlaca, Mark Shapiro, Adam Schefter, Greg Hughes, Traug Keller

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• Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber Sign-Up on Thursday, April 23rd

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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THE RUNDOWN …

• The danger for leagues, teams and networks …

• What NBC got right on its MLB presentation

• Clayton Kershaw’s start

• Stephen A. Smith’s poor judgement

• Neil Walker needed a Red Bull

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• How difficult it is to watch all the Yankee games

• Why you have to make it easy for fans today more than ever

• Marchand at Mike Vaccaro’s book signing and a mini-review

• The bad polling around fans watching sports

• The issues with the Nate Burleson “Game Show” CBS NCAA approach

• Meterparel was not a fan of the lack of basketball analysis from Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith

• Meterparel got more texts about the college hoops studio than anything ever in TV

• The comparison of the Jamal Mashburn-led TNT show to CBS’

• The full , fine tooth breakdown of Eagle, Raftery Hill on the clasic call of the UConn-Duke ending

• What grade does the trio receive

• How did the rest of the NCAA Men’s crews fare on the weekend

• Netflix-MLB review

• “Love is Blind” vs. “Opening Day Pregame Show”

• The Rob Manfred interview was …

• What worked on the Netflix stream

• Barry Bonds was …

• Why Netflix needs versatility

• Michael Jordan is on every network, but …

• The Tiger Woods DUI coverage was …

• Papa Clicker Review: The Art of Tennis by Nicholas Fox Weber

• A couple of corrections

• A special cakes are baking for Momma Meterparel

• Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Mike Soltys is The Main Event

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The RUNDOWN …

• What changed the most in Keller’s more than two decades at ESPN

• Why everyone is now their own program director

• The unbelievable job a current New York radio executive has done

• Why Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith are the Paul Harveys of today

• What has changed about new hosts on the air in the current climate

• The advice that Keller gave to ESPN that helped lead to Colin Cowherd’s discovery

• The power of YouTube

• Stephen A’s quality for success

• Tirico could have been a big hit on another medium

• The insecurity of talent

• How Cowherd and Smith were different

• Why Paul Harvey was the GOAT

• Harvey had the ear of presidents

• Stephen A.’s preparation

• Working with Mitch Dolan on Hannity national launch and dealing with Roger Ailes

• Why Keller left ABC Radio Networks for ESPN Radio in 2004

• What was it like reporting directly into a young Mark Shapiro

• Keller’s assessment of Shapiro’s potential

• Why did ESPN New York never go fully local to compete with WFAN

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• Keller’s thoughts on the longevity of “The Michael Kay Show”

• The Larry David story on Marchand’s job

• ESPN New York vs. Mike Francesa

• Rush Limbaugh struggled when he first started

• Radio and podcasting need patience

• The reason Keller wanted clean radio

• What happened at the end with Mike Greenberg & Mike Golic

• What Keller is most proud of in his career

• Freddy Rolon, Patrick Polking, Sean Breen, Tim McCarthy and Amanda Gifford and the “We, not an I” approach

• How Scott Van Pelt’s radio impacted his SportsCenter rise

• Why Keller would put Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo back together

• The PTSD of running the Talent Office

• How Nick Khan changed the ESPN game

• What was running ESPN Deportes like

• The Justin Connolly and Rolon connections

• Keller retired and thought he was going to retire, but America Magazine called

• Keller loved it, but now has fully retired

• Ourand’s jealousy

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• Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber Sign-Up on Thursday, April 23rd

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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THE RUNDOWN …

• Why the NCAA Tournament is the hardest and best assignment

• Grading all 8 CBS & TNT Sports announce teams on Clicker Rating System

• The No. 1 team was …

• The lowest score went to …

• Candace Parker was on Friday, but not Sunday, why?

• Why put together three-person teams on short notice

• Jason Benetti filling in for Brian Anderson and reaction

• Who will analyze a Final Four one day who is not right now

• Who is a “poor man’s Ian Eagle”

• Why one analyst could be a little more positive

• The team that Marchand & Meterparel were divided on

• Which duo could be a riser

• Nate Burleson or Adam Zucker, who ya got

• Which sideline reporter asked good, concise questions

• How the NFL opt-out negotiations hangs over everything

• Emerging big name NFL TV free agent to watch

• Mike Tomlin’s status

• Is Barry Bonds an inspiring choice for Netflix

• Zlatan to Fox and who else it thought about for the World Cup

• Laura Rutledge’s move to leave SEC Nation

• The fallout from the Rutledge move

• The WBC’s big numbers, which we went deep on last week

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• What’s Up & What’s down (at the beginning)

• What’s Up: Howie Rose & Steve Lappas

• What’s Down: Tom Brady & Charles Barkley

• Sign-up: Off The Record with MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, April 23rd

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Traug Keller is The Main Event

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You are invited to the next “Off The Record with Andrew Marchand presented by WSC Sports.” MLS Commissioner Don Garber will be our guest on Thursday, April 23rd in Midtown Manhattan, beginning at 4 p.m. Appetizers and cocktails will be served.

It is free to get in. Space is limited so signing up does not guarantee a spot, though subscribers receive pref…

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Rothstein is the guest on “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand.”

THE RUNDOWN …

• The incredible amount of college hoops Rothstein watches

• How does wife and child deal with his obsession

• How did his passion for college hoops begin

• The greatness of Christian Laettner’s college hoops career

• The surreal story of being on TV for the first time

• Trying to sell his own advertising for his show and being told to take a hike

• His pride of never having any help from family or connections to break in

• The big decision to turn down a full-time ESPN LA radio show

• While others friends were going on vacation, Rothstein saved up his money to go around the country to visit coaches and college teams

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• He finished Ithaca College in three years

• Why he always wore a suit

• His connection building through hand-written notes

• He grew up reading Ian O’Connor and Frank Isola and learned …

• Jim Calhoun, Jay Wright & John Calipari were very accessible for Rothstein early

• World events happened and Rothstein has a tweet about some random college hoops matchup, what is that about

• What is up with all of Rothstein’s sayings …

• Why he has such a good memory for college hoops

• His politics and college basketball bubble saying …

• Who has the best pizza …

• Would he miss his brother’s wedding if it were on Final Four Saturday

• What he told his then girlfriend, now wife, about hoops …

  ---

  Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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The duo decides if the recent Netflix, NBC and MLB Networks hires were strong, what to think of Thanksgiving Eve NFL, a potential March Madness “What’s Up,” a comparison of Pat McAfee’s free agency frenzy numbers, a Double Eagle and more.

THE RUNDOWN …

• In the WBC, MLB has a spectacle that it can sell for more TV money

• Do you want more money or not?

• What do we make of Matt Vasgersian being hired by everyone

• Barry Bonds not agreeing to work for Netflix, a win or a loss?

• Netflix looked into hiring …

• The Brendan Burke, Noah Eagle examples and should MLB broadcasters take a shot at younger broadcasters?

• Does Netflix need to hire a versatile full-time play-by-player?

• Bob Costas picking a convenient time to say local announcers should do national MLB playoff games

• Thanks for the subscribe! Thanks for the subscribe!

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• Is the NFL Thanksgiving Eve game idea a good one or gluttonous

• Pat McAfee’s NFL TV free agent frenzy dissected

• On TV, ESPN’s NFL special and NFL Live outrated McAfee’s free agent shows … McAfee’s show is also on YouTube

• The college hoop team to watch on the NCAA TV coverage that could be a what’s up

• How Grant Hill has improved with Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery

• Grant Hill used to have Rudy Martzke review his games

• The Double Eagle for the SGA Wilt Chamberlain record

• The great families of sportscasting …

• Eddy Cue’s ridiculous comments

• The emotional Chris Carrino story that Marchand wrote in The Athletic

• Consider Marty Glickman’s mantra

• Honoring a legend of statistics

  ---

• What’s Up, What’s Down (at the start)

• Eric Hosmer going to MLB TV is a good deal

• NBC’s Smylie Kaufman is on the rise

• The Dread Glitch Award goes to Prime Video’s mic issue on NBA

• NBA media jumping on Bam Adebayo’s accomplishment

• On Deck: Jon Rothstein is The Main Event

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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Why Paramount will go first, the potential billions in play, the extra bidders involved, the FCC angle, the network budget factor, does the NFL ask for double, the setting the market angle, Sunday Night as the pressure point, YouTube lurking, Amazon maybe wanting more, NFL creating leverage, the minimum networks could spend, how it impacts other leagues’ deals, examining the MLB local streaming dreams, NHL’s position and the biggest story from CBS-TNT Sports confab.

It’s The Monthly, Marchand & Ourand.

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The duo goes into if college football pooling its TV rights together could work, the standout out college basketball regular season TV story, the upgrade of an ESPN booth, NBC’s old and new moves and Gorilla Monsoon.

The RUNDOWN …

• What YouTube’s desire to be an even bigger part of the NFL distribution strategy means

• Why winning distribution historically leads to domination in media

• Nets’ radio play-by-player Chris Carrino going into the Hall of Fame is well deserved

• Breaking news: Meterparel’s take on John Smoltz, Fox & the WBC

• The NFL wanting deals before next season is bad news for networks

• TMZ’s story on Momma Kelce was ridiculous

• Why YouTube’s strategy feels unbeatable

• YouTube TV is on pace to be the No. 1 cable-like distributor

• Can college sports bundle all of its rights for TV

• TNT Sports’ Jamal Mashburn has been the standout newcomer on regular season college

• Evaluating the Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler team

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• The NBC Bob Costas led throwback game

• The potential of the WBC as a TV event

• Tyler Kepner’s strong column

• Judging Jason Benetti’s move from Fox to NBC

• NBC going with local announcers

• The pod controversy of using the word “misnomer” wrong

• Papa Clicker Review of the Gorilla Monsoon book by Brian R. Solomon

• Meterparel’s Larry Bird book recommendation for Papa Clicker

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Oestlien explains what YouTube is trying to accomplish in sports, its interest in the NFL and other rights, how it syncs with YouTube TV, its network partners and leagues. And much more.

The podcast was part of the “Off The Record with Andrew Marchand presented by WSC Sports” series.

Previous guests have included Jimmy Pitaro, Rick Cordella, Gary Bettman, Jay Marine, Mark Shapiro and Hans Schroeder.

The Rundown …

• Oestlien had 16 interviews for his first job at Google and any of them had veto power

• His childhood gives him unique experience for YouTube’s global goals

• What should people understand about YouTube & YouTube TV & sports

• The 2015 mission to become the home of clips & highlights

• 40 billion hours of sports content were watched on YouTube last year

• YouTube wants to become great partners for leagues, broadcast and media companies and for the fan experience

• How creator partnerships with leagues work

• Should leagues be scared that young fans may want to watch creators more than the game

• The Brazil example of creator Casimiro Miguel, who turbocharged soccer viewership more than the league channels … and this could be next in the United States

• What was the biggest milestone over the past decade … MLB is one

• Sunday Ticket was a wake-up call to everyone about the seriousness of YouTube with sports

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• Cristiano Ronaldo got to how many subs in a week …

• YouTube has the upcoming World Cup rights in Brazil, which feels like another testing ground

• What were the reasons behind completing the seven-year, $14 billion Sunday Ticket deal with the NFL that began in 2023

• Oestlien’s father played for Norway’s national soccer team

• How good was Oestlien

• YouTube wanted to evolve Sunday Ticket

• How many subscriptions does Sunday Ticket have

• How YouTube TV melds with Sunday Ticket

• How did YouTube’s first NFL game last year go in Oestlien’s opinion

• The 100 day sprint to produce the Chiefs-Chargers game

• YouTube is confident it can drive even bigger numbers on NFL

• Repetition is the key and “whole household” events

• The idea that live sports are going toward the creators

• Why is YouTube interested in the four NFL regular season games up for auction for this upcoming season

• Does YouTube want to have a full NFL package

• The relationship for YouTube is to attempt to be the best partners with networks, leagues and all platforms

• YouTube was involved in the NBA’s last negotiation in a big way, but didn’t get one of the three packages

• Do live global sports really work

• How YouTube looks at it

• The NBC Olympic example is a potential global model

• How can YouTube solve the local problem for MLB, the NBA and the NHL

• YouTube could eliminate artificial boundaries

• How does YouTube and YouTube TV make it simpler for the consumer

• Oestlien apologized for the YouTube TV-ESPN blackout

• The positive results of the NBC and ESPN negotiations

• Oestlien turns the tables and asks Marchand how he views the aggregation

• Spectrum has brought the apps into its service

• The price point for YouTube TV new sports package

• What are the chances of adding local sports games to YouTube, which the RSNs used to provide

• When will ESPN Unlimited be available for YouTube TV customers

• How “Ask YouTube” uses AI

• The many and varied ways AI will impact YouTube

• AI will solve the discovery issue

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• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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Isola — the SiriusXM/ESPN/YES star — joins Marchand to analyze the new NBA deals and how they are shadowing the upcoming NFL TV rights negotiations. Plus, a deep dive into what Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.-Discovery means. And more.

The Rundown …

• How to assess the new NBA TV deals with NBC/Peacock, Amazon Prime Video & ESPN so far

• Netflix’s Ted Sarandos is now in even a better position in sports

• The Apple MLS deal is improved this year

• Who is going to fill all these NFL TV studio openings …

• The unfairness to Charles Barkley and company for “not celebrating the game”

• Judging the Prime Video and NBC/Peacock’s NBA hires

• Tony Dungy is out as a regular on an NBC’s pregame … his last hurrah was not good

• Judging the Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit’s booth

• The NFL is the biggest winner of the Paramount-Warner Bros.-Discovery deal

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• The NFL deals could impact the rest of TV and there are some intriguing players

• The NFL should be greedy, but not too greedy with the networks

• Isola is concerned if Paramount’s Champions League will be impacted by the Warner Bros.-Discovery deal

• What is Isola’s take on the insiders game

• You want to hear the “why” of situations

• How Fox’s World Cup coverage will be impacted by politics

• Isola likes Alexi Lalas

• The parking for the World Cup is going to cost, “What?”

• Isola paid for World Cup tickets

• Apple’s MLS adjustments

• Why the World Cup may not give MLS an uptick

• How the Premier League is planting seeds with kids

• Big Papa Clicker Book Review for Paul Knepper’s Moses Malone: The Life of Basketball Prophet

• Isola’s classic stories on Malone

• On Deck: YouTube VP of Subscriptions, Christian Oestlien, is The Main Event

• Frank Isola’s trip from New York sports media institution to the national spotlight

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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THE RUNDOWN …

• Clark’s self-effacing stories about how his wife, the Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer, has a Pulitzer for her coverage that has included Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates & Elon Musk scoops

• The reaction to her WSJ’s stories and Clark’s Kobe Bryant story

• What’s it like when Musk goes after your wife

• How Clark grew up in a newspaper newsroom

• Why sports writing is one of the best jobs in the world

• The Orlando Sentinel featured young writers — Jeff Darlington, Charles Robinson, Jemele Hill, Rick Maese and Joe Schad — which inspired Clark

• Clark met Bill Simmons when he was 16 years old and was more starstruck than seeing Tom Brady or Rodney Harrison

• Simmons made him feel like a million bucks with a simple question

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• How he got his big breaks, while in college

• Clark took a semester off from college to cover the Miami Dolphins

• He got hired as a sports writer by the Wall Street Journal at 22

• What editor Sam Walker taught Clark about being different

• A story Clark has never told before about his fear of being fired

• The Andrew Luck complimenting defensive linemen story that got Clark on the national map

• What he learned from Sun Sentinel columnist Dave Hyde about reporting

• He had many offers to leave WSJ before deciding on The Ringer

• Simmons is Clark’s hero

• How his job went from writing to audio and video

• How sports writing can be applied to podcasting

• John Mulaney and “Slow News Day” and the New York Post

• Clark had great chemistry with Phil Simms, and then CBS called

• What it is like to work for Peyton Manning & Omaha Productions

• His advice on where sports media is going

• What Burke Magnus told him about ESPN

• The difference between six-figures and 7-figures in the media

• What content Clark pays for

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

• One-time 60-second setup so all episodes go to your pod player

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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Plus, MLB’s streaming ideas, coaches and managers making fools of themselves, the Final Four TV slot that could be up for grabs soon, Adam Schefter-Ian Rapoport as “The Avengers” and the excellence of Kate Scott.

THE RUNDOWN …

• Rick Cordella, Molly Solomon, Mike Tirico, Amy Rosenfeld and NBC have the Olympic formula down

• Kate Scott shines on Paramount+

• Kenny Albert wins a gold for hockey calls

• UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s embarrassment and good questions

• Broadcasters, stop using the word, “right”

• NBC’s Men’s Hockey coverage hit from pre-to-post

• Olympic Broadcasting productions had some difficulties on game winners

• Behind the scenes at NBC’s facilities

• Is hockey the hardest for play-by-play

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• Fox is on the clock for the World Cup

• LA Olympics will be different

• Rob Manfred’s comments on his full streaming plan

• Assessing Ian Rapoport’s “The Avengers” idea, pairing with Adam Schefter

• How Schefter ended up teaming with Chris Mortensen

• The “controversy” over Marchand’s tweet simply stating ESPN will broadcast women’s sports games with Sunday Night Baseball gone

• NBC is putting together a fine team with SNB if you are missing ESPN

• Giants manager Tony Vitello sounded amateurish

• The significance of Nate Burleson filling in for Ernie Johnson on NCAA Men’s Tournament

• The difficulties of working the NCAA tourney

• Sign-up for “Off The Record” on Feb. 26 with YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Kevin Clark is The Main Event

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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THE RUNDOWN …

• Rapoport on how he became a diehard Mets’ fan and 1986

• How many texts per day for Rapoport

• Rapoport went to Columbia and wanted to be a lawyer

• What interning on ESPN’s '“SportsCentury” was like

• A few gutsy moves that led him to football

• The tremendous story how he landed at the Boston Herald

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• The unplanned way he ended up at NFL Network and then an insider

• How NFLN helped Rapoport with his lack of experience

• The stories Rapoport broke that he is most proud of

• The stories Rapoport wishes he had a do-over on

• The big scoop this year that friends were asking if he were hacked

• The Manscape suspension was funny, but really a great lesson

• How does Rapoport feel about the ESPN-NFL deal

• Marchand said that he was told that Rapoport’s contract is up in May, which Rapoport confirmed

• How Rapoport thinks he and Schefter could be like ‘The Avengers’

• His relationship with Schefter

• How far along is he in the process in talking with the Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Mangnus-types at ESPN

• What was it like working for Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football

• How did the Pat McAfee relationship happen

• What happened with the Jordan Schultz incident last year at Starbucks

• How Mike Florio had the story right away and how his good buddy, Mike Garafolo, was on the photo

• Have Rapoport and Schultz made up

• Why the insider game is important ….

• Rapoport on where the scoops come from

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  Some Relate Pods … Adam Schefter … Adrian Wojnarowski…. Peter King … Jay Glazer … Peter Schrager … Adam Schein … Ramona Shelburne… Tyler Dunne

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• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

• One-time 60-second setup so all episodes go to your pod player

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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THE RUNDOWN …

• Why a streaming Super Bowl will be discussed in the NFL opt-out negotiations

• Sam Darnold wanted to be a SportsCenter anchor, but had to settle for winning a Super Bowl

• The Prime Video ABA documentary hit

• Silver’s AI comments sounded like alt-casts

• Meterparel musings mentions John Fanta and not doing radio on TV

• Why the ESPN Super Bowl is monumental

• The conference championships seem like a potential new bargaining chip

• Netflix does well internationally with major boxing matches

• Japan and MLB is a perfect match for the streamers

• What do we think of the Weds kickoff for the NFL season

• How should NBC’s Super Bowl 124.9 million viewers be looked at

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• Assessing NBC’s Ilia Malinin’s coverage

• What have we thought of the NBA’s new TV packages at the All-Star Break

• What could eventually be Amazon Prime Video’s No. 1 big name NBA crew

• Meterparel’s Valentine Day or All-Star skills competition and then Marchand’s

• Listening and commenting to Silver’s AI impact on personalization in viewing

• Where could Chris Paul end up in TV and what’s his potential

• What do we make of the possible Barry Bonds and CC Sabathia Netflix hirings

• Will Stephen A. run for president

• Smith could do well on a debate stage, but …

• Next year’s Super Bowl is on Valentine’s Day

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• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Ian Rapoport is the Main Event

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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They delve into the potential pivotal pressure-point package, Netflix and YouTube’s real interest … and will Amazon Prime Video pick up a Super Bowl and/or a Conference Championship. And what impact will all this have on leagues like MLB, the NHL and others.

THE RUNDOWN …

• The opening salvo about the cost of the NFL and the fallout

• One prime time package may be the linchpin

• The dilemma of a lame-duck broadcaster for four years

• Their views on if Netflix will want a weekly package

• Why Prime Video seems most likely for a streaming Super Bowl

• The likely length of the new deals

• How many extra Super Bowls will the NFL put out there

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• Marchand & Ourand disagree over the significance of an ESPN Super Bowl

• ESPN’s portfolio is at its zenith

• The naivety both Marchand & Ourand felt when they separately found out the new NFL deals probably won’t be longer than the old ones

• What type of money could the NFL pick up

• Looking at ESPN’s cards

• Should ESPN/ABC be in on Sunday Night Football

• Could the same platforms be in, but nights and packages change

• Where is Amazon Prime Video shopping

• The YouTube wild card

• How David Berson is now like the “Benjamins” commercial

• Lachlan Murdoch’s comments saying how Fox will “rebalance” around NFL opt-out negotiations

• How will the current Fox and CBS packages look

• What does NFL Projection 1.0 look like

• Gary Bettman and Brian Rolapp wanted to go early in their negotiations

• The networks have to find money

• Why Marchand still thinks MLB has a potentially good hand for 2029

• The NFL and NHL are not in the same conversation

• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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The Rundown …

• How do we grade NBC’s overall performance on the Super Bowl

• What is Fred Warner’s TV potential after his Super Bowl studio work

• How did Maria Taylor do as the pregame host

• Why Tony Dungy’s failure to reveal his Pro Football Hall of Fame vote is no good

• Colin Cowherd had a tough week

• YouTube TV’s new sports bundle is a big deal for a lot of people

• What Tirico does really well and his incredible spotlight

• Assessing what Cris Collinsworth did well … and not so much

• The Tirico and producer Rob Hyland relationship

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• How did Kaylee Hartung and Melissa Stark do on the broadcast

• The oddity of the Stark-Drake Maye interview

• Noah Eagle continues to soar

• Peter King’s feature and the fan stories stood out

• Dissecting the Randy Moss comments on Hall of Fame votes

• Marchand’s yellow card in the Mets’ clubhouse at 25

• What to make of ESPN’s “Handoff”

• What was the week like for Marchand in San Francisco

• Marchand is all-in on Waymo (with video)

• How did Dan Hicks deal with the Lindsey Vonn injury

• The drones are one of the big hits of the Olympics

• Why Gold Zone works

• Papa Clicker’s review: 101 Lessons from the Dugout: What Baseball and Softball Can Teach Us About the Game of Life by Harley A. Robart & Ken Davidoff

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• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Mike Greenberg is the Main Event

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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The Rundown …

• Greenberg wanted to be the star of Broadway musicals

• If Greenberg knew as a kid, you could be a Theo Epstein, he may have pursed that

• What was ESPN like to him when he was growing up

• A great story about seeing Cosell

• Why Stephen A. is closest thing to Cosell today

• Costas reaching out to Greenberg

• The Costas voicemail that he wished he still had

• How Greenberg went from Northwestern to sports in Chicago

• How Michael Jordan & Suzyn Waldman impacted Greenberg’s career

• Greenberg’s best Jordan stories

• Being offered $5,000 for his media credential to a Jordan game

• The great story on Jordan’s focus

• Marchand has written good and bad things about Greenberg

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• Greenberg’s big break into ESPN

• Greenberg first turned down doing “Mike & Mike” on ESPN Radio

• Why it was such an amazing break that he teamed with Mike Golic

• Why at ESPN a personality really has to go against the mold to become a star

• Why Greenberg said you can’t fake it on a talk show

• The trait Greeenberg doesn’t have to be a hot take guy

• Why Stephen A. Smith is the closest to Cosell now

• What happened at the end of Mike & Mike

• How they reconfigured “Get Up” after its slow start

• How his friend, Seth Meyers, gave him some advice

• Why Greenberg is more of a John Stockton broadcaster

• Some amazing advice how to lead a show as a host … and a producer

• Why he got emotional hosting the NBA Finals pregame

• When Greenberg went back to radio he was absent a lot because of TV, Marchand would call the show Mike (without Mike)

• Mike (without Mike) starring Chris Carlin …

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  4. Colin Cowherd’s journey from obscurity to stardom

  5. Michael Kay’s legendary New York career from The Boss to the booth

  6. Growing up on WFAN, Adam Schein & the creation of a complete sports talk show host

• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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The Rundown …

• Mike Tirico’s big decision

• Analyzing the Caitlin Clark move for NBC

• Bob Costas, Tom Verducci and production standout performance on MLB Network’s Game 7 retrospective on Dodgers-Blue Jays

• MLB and Main Street Sports’ big issues will impact a lot of teams

• ESPN’s Cam Newtown’s … Shae Cornette’s save

• Tirico’s rare ability

• Assessing Cris Collinsworth’s approach

• The great ‘heist’ of NBC hiring Tirico from ESPN

• Tirico wanted to be the next Marv Albert

• Kaylee Hartung compared to Melissa Stark

• What NBC has prepared for the Super Bowl pregame

• What Fred Gaudelli does really well to keep things simpler

• What The Main Event guest from last week Drew Esocoff will be thinking on Sunday

• The fascinating and humble career arc for Esocoff

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• Big Bunny or Bad Bunny?

• Predictions for the Super Bowl ratings

• The implications of the mammoth NFL-ESPN NFL deal

• What will it mean for on-air people

• Where could it lead to and what does it suggest for what is next

• How will ESPN handle the new NFL programming

• How Molly Solomon changed the Olympics on NBC

• What about Costas succeeding Kevin Connors on Sunday Night Baseball with the games moving from ESPN to NBC

• NBC is on verge of adding big names for MLB, which is hard in this day and age

• You want the new Sunday Night Baseball to feel big

• What is one more idea for CBS to improve the Jim Nantz and Tony Romo tandem

• The Meterparel Research Group conducted a survey of college-aged students reaction to Nantz and Romo

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• Sign-up for Off The Record on Feb. 26 with guest YouTube’s VP of subscriptions Christian Oestlien

• On Deck: Mike Greenberg is the Main Event

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

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