In the 41-minute sports media podcast, Andrew Marchand & Jon Meterparel hand out the TV grades for ESPN, NFL Network, ABC & Pat McAfee. Plus, inside the Mike Tomlin move to ESPN, the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini saga continues, NBA, Joe Buck, Darren Rovell and more.

Topics:

• Marchand & Meterparel hand out grades & analysis on Mike Greenberg, Pat McAfee, Rich Eisen, Booger McFarland, Ian Rapoport, Rece Davis, Ty Schmit, Kirk Herbstreit, Joel Klatt, Daniel Jeremiah and more

• Big “Off the Record with Andrew Marchand presented by WSC Sports” announcement

• The Roger Goodell-Greenberg interview evaluated

• A new Clicker contributor chimes in on Chris Carlin & ESPN Radio coverage

• ESPN vs. NFLN: Which is a better draft show?

• How execs should asses their draft coverage

• Mel Kiper Jr. impersonation matchup …

• Inside the Mike Tomlin Sweepstakes

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• Where the Vrabel and Russini saga is now ….

• The accountability issue …

• The nickname for the Pats’ Saturday draft choices

• Why Eric Collins struggled on Celtics-76ers

• The NBA local broadcast first round issue is overrated

• Why YouTube TV is good for the content providers

• The Prime Video issue …

• Darren Rovell lit up new “Sports Jeopardy” host Joe Buck for some reason … Marchand & Meterparel react

• FaZe Rugg vs. Buck: Who ya got?

• Birthday Age Game: On the clock: George Gervin, Corey Seager & Bridget Moynahan

• Meterparel tells his ex-wife story from the 1998 NFL draft

• Off The Record with Netflix VP Gabe Spitzer on May 12th

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Don Garber is The Main Event Thursday

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In the 36-minute sports media podcast, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah explains his incredible Chris Mortensen relationship, how he prepares for the draft, his top hits and misses and if wants to be a GM one day

The Topics …

• As a kid, did Jeremiah grow up wanting to be a draftnik

• “Who the heck is Mel Kiper” is an all-timer

• The disappointment of the Cowboys missing out on a future Hall of Famer

• Jeremiah’s Keith Smart connection

• Chris Mortensen randomly in his living room ...

• His aunt was Indiana’s women’s coach during the Bobby Knight era ...

• The back story of being introduced to Mortensen from his dad’s reach as a pastor

• “Why is Chris Mortensen in my living room ...”

• How Mortensen took Jeremiah under his wing

• Reggie White, attending games, going to Bristol ...

• Working the draft with Mort and then meeting Jay Rothman

• How Jeremiah began his career at ESPN

• Really nice tales about what Mortensen was like ...

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• Did he consider following his father’s footsteps into the ministry

• How close was Jeremiah to being an NFL player

• How does Jeremiah approach his draft preparation

• The minute details of how he goes about it all

• Why Jeremiah doesn’t first type out his info and opinions

• How does Jeremiah look at analyzing picks

• Jason Kelce and no one knows anything

• The evaluation Jeremiah is most proud of ...

• The evaluation Jeremiah would like a do-over on ...

• The “scout school” that teams have

• Evaluating how they missed on Tom Brady

• Looking for clues of what you were doing wrong

• More draft do-overs ....

• Comparing the combine and games in evaluations

• Why seeing quarterbacks live is important

• The QB body language issue ...

• What has Mel Kiper Jr. meant to the draft ...

• The special connection Jeremiah has with him

• Does Jeremiah have dreams of being a GM

• What does the ESPN ownership of NFL Network mean to Jeremiah

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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 Topics …

• As a kid, did Jeremiah grow up wanting to be a draftnik

• “Who the heck is Mel Kiper” is an all-timer

• The disappointment of the Cowboys missing out on a future Hall of Famer

• Jeremiah’s Keith Smart connection

• Chris Mortensen randomly in his living room ...

• His aunt was Indiana’s women’s coach during the Bobby Knight era ...

• The back story of being introduced to Mortensen from his dad’s reach as a pastor

• “Why is Chris Mortensen in my living room ...”

• How Mortensen took Jeremiah under his wing

• Reggie White, attending games, going to Bristol ...

• Working the draft with Mort and then meeting Jay Rothman

• How Jeremiah began his career at ESPN

• Really nice tales about what Mortensen was like ...

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• Did he consider following his father’s footsteps into the ministry

• How close was Jeremiah to being an NFL player

• How does Jeremiah approach his draft preparation

• The minute details of how he goes about it all

• Why Jeremiah doesn’t first type out his info and opinions

• How does Jeremiah look at analyzing picks

• Jason Kelce and no one knows anything

• The evaluation Jeremiah is most proud of ...

• The evaluation Jeremiah would like a do-over on ...

• The “scout school” that teams have

• Evaluating how they missed on Tom Brady

• Looking for clues of what you were doing wrong

• More draft do-overs ....

• Comparing the combine and games in evaluations

• Why seeing quarterbacks live is important

• The QB body language issue ...

• What has Mel Kiper Jr. meant to the draft ...

• The special connection Jeremiah has with him

• Does Jeremiah have dreams of being a GM

• What does the ESPN ownership of NFL Network mean to Jeremiah

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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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Plus, the Dianna Russini resignation from The Athletic, Prime Video’s slow NBA playoff start, Charles Barkley brings it, MLBN shines during a tragedy, MLB analysts overdoing it, YouTube’s NFL quest, World Cup transport fiasco & Papa Clicker’s Mike Vaccaro “Bosses of the Bronx” review.

The Topics …

• How to assess ESPN going all in on WWE & WrestleMania

• Is WWESPN better for WWE or ESPN …

• Not taking Charles Barkley and “Inside The NBA” for granted …

• MLB Network’s strong work during a tragedy

• Prime Video starts its NBA playoffs slow

• MLB game analysts have to stop doing this …

• Perception of Stephen A. Smith at WrestleMania

• Why ESPN did the WWE deal

• How Paul Fortenbaugh and others stood out on ESPN’s WWE coverage

• What to make of the Dianna Russini resignation from The Athletic

• What is going on with Mike Vrabel

• The big production question if YouTube adds five more NFL games

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• What was YouTube’s issue on its first NFL game

• The younger broadcaster approach …

• Has it been easy or difficult to find the NBA playoff games …

• Is Prime Video’s NBA pregame good?

• What works with the NBA on NBC

• The forthcoming World Cup fan fiasco

• The Dallas Wings’ PR team was lost

• The WNBA wants to be covered, but not covered …

• The Big 3 Dallas Mavericks story from back in the day

• Does Mike Vaccaro’s “The Bosses of the Bronx” receive an all-time Papa Clicker score?

• The “Cakes are Baking” Game is born. Play along …

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

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Daniel Jeremiah is The Main Event

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TOPICS ….

• Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan and inside their media rules

• Woody on growing up with a severe speech impediment

• His career on the field and off have been more than his wildest dreams

• How his speech impediment impacted who he has become

• Why he became a “gentle giant”

• Why he went on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” where he lost 107 pounds

• Would he do it again …

• Why do offensive linemen lose so much weight after playing

• Woody was in the inaugural NFL broadcasting boot camp

• His big decision about playing or broadcasting …

• The biggest lesson that Belichick mentioned to him that has impacted his broadcasting career

• It is easier to criticize now because he’s further away from playing

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• He has seven kids so those free Disney passes come in handy

• His youngest child’s wild football recruitment

• The grand piano and Woody’s plan to play it on SportsCenter

• What would he play?

• The seven-person family road trips …

• How close to he came to going to FS1 to pair with Craig Carton

• Any interest in games

• Does the “Same Old Jets” really exist

• What’s next …

• His 14-year-old is just like dad

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

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• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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Topics …

• What networks could learn from The Masters’ presentation

• The “Electronic Wizard” gets his due

• The 1986 Masterpiece

• Roger Goodell is in a place you never want to be in

• CBS was lost on the 18th hole

• Assessing CBS’ overall coverage of The Masters

• Dottie Pepper and who excelled during the tournament

• What Amazon Prime Video did right on its Masters’ debut and how it applies to its other sports

• What do we make of Mark Jones’ more than three decade run of ESPN

• Mike Breen criticizes the NBA over first round broadcast setup

• This is the money-making part of the ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock & Amazon Prime Video deals

• What to make of the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel situation and investigation

• FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tweeting Marchand’s Athletic column on Amazon, The Masters & the Super Bowl

• Does the DOJ probe hurt the NFL’s leverage in TV renegotiations

• Jay Marine and the “fullness of time” Super Bowl

• What to make of Joe Buck telling Richard Deitsch he wants to finish his career at ESPN

• The interesting move of Ex-Washington Postie Ben Strauss turning up at ESPN and doing some media stories

• Who was the 2018 World Series MVP

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  Other elements ….

• Turk Wendell gave Marchand a yellow card in the Mets’ clubhouse

• Meterparel’s famous fantasy baseball league

• Meterparel and the Ithacan

• New potential show feature

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

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Damien Woody is The Main Event

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In the 36-minute podcast, Marchand & Ourand also go into Ourand’s ESPN’s mini-layoff report and have some fun with Ourand’s Chris Berman nickname.

The Topics ….

• How the networks’ attitude might be changing in the game of chicken

• Why CBS is a different scenario compared to the other networks

• Where the leverage points stand in negotiations and budgets

• Why FCC and Congress are worth watching

• Kitchen tabling the process of stripping the NFL anti-trust exemption

• How much credence does this idea have

• Why Hollywood and other sports are so nervous about the new NFL talks

• Gaming out a post-CBS deal with Fox and others up next

• The rights holder would pay more if they got this criteria from the NFL

• The four-corners strategy

• Why would you go early if you are the networks and why not

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• The NFL is a league of its own on TV, which is why these talks are so important

• Marchand & Ourand make predictions on who has deals before next season’s kickoff … and they disagree

• Is YouTube leverage as a free service or not ….

• Marchand’s Ourand social media strategy

• What is Ourand’s thought process in reporting that 30 non-on-air ESPN folks will be let go

• ESPN and the YouTube TV factor …

• Assessing the Chris Berman-like “Grande Ourand” nickname

• Ourand flip flops on predictions

• The Best Berman nicknames & bloopers

• ICYMI Pod: NFL Media Rights Projections 1.0

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

• Subscribe at AndrewMarchand.com

• On Deck: Marchand & Meterparel

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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

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• 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

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• 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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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 …

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• 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

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• 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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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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