Sport & Story Daily January 15, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

January 15, 2024

Good morning! Today, we honor a man who moved our country and our society forward in so many ways.

“If you can’t fly then run, If you can’t run then walk, If you can’t walk then crawl, But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Peacock Playoff Ruffles Feathers, But Premium NFL Games Here to Stay 
As Sportico’s Anthony Crupi writes, “One of the latest trifles that has made a whole lot of people adopt the trappings of the aggrieved first-time, long-time bellyacher is the NFL’s move to stage a Wild Card playoff game behind a $5.99 paywall. In exchange for a $110 million check from the deep-pocketed swells at Comcast, the league has granted the rights to Saturday night’s Dolphins-Chiefs contest to the streaming service Peacock. While this is an unwelcome development for those who don’t know how to steal things from the internet, the response from sports media’s screaming heads has been overwrought—and predictably so.”
^sportico.com

‘ESPN BET Live’ Is a Lock For Both Information and Entertainment
As Barrett Sports Media’s John Molori writes, “From DraftKings to FanDuel to BetMGM to Caesars and more, we are living in a new world order for sure, one where odds and props are as important as opponents and points. It is only natural that sports conglomerate ESPN would jump into this fray with its own sportsbook powerhouse ESPN BET and a daily show ESPN BET Live.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

How ESPN Revived ‘Monday Night Football’ and Won Over the NFL
“Just make a call, you know? I mean, there’s 13 seconds in the half. Just make a decision,” said three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman during ESPN’s Dec. 11 telecast of the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers. Whereas others have been hesitant to say it, Aikman didn’t mince words about the officials’ difficult making calls. “This is what stops all these games. The officials, I know they’ve been talked about every week. But this is ridiculous, what we’re watching right now. We see something, it takes five seconds—it takes them five minutes.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

ESPN, NFL in Advanced Talks on Agreement That Could Give League Stake in TV Giant
As New York Post’s Andrew Marchand writes, “While the idea of an ESPN-NFL alliance has been mentioned before, discussions between Disney-owned ESPN and the NFL are far enough along that sources said that owners and the Players Association are being informed about the talks. 

The owners and players need to be involved in the equity agreement because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the two sides that calls for them to share revenues. It is unclear of how an equity stake in ESPN would be accounted for in the CBA.”
^{newyorkpost.com}

MegaCast to ManningCast: Alt Broadcasts Are Changing How We Watch Sports
When ESPN’s MegaCast approach to college football’s national championship game began in January 2014, the sports media landscape was vastly different. Most of today’s streaming services had not yet launched, nor had cable channels like the ACC and SEC networks.

Now a staple of the College Football Playoff (Monday’s game will have 11 different presentations, from Pat McAfee on the field to the Skycam view from above), ESPN’s MegaCast paved the way for today’s booming trend of multiple broadcasts covering a single sporting event.
^{frontofficesports.com}

Troy Trojans Baseball Prepares to Unveil Largest Fully Led Video Board
“Getting ready to install the largest fully LED video board in the Sun Belt.” - Brent Jones
^twitter.com

Florida Gators Athletic Director Reveals Details for Stadium Renovations
“The wing walls, the proximity of the fans to the field,” UF athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “Not putting a bunch of chairbacks everywhere just because that does take away from what makes it unique. We’re going to be very careful whatever we do. We don’t know exactly what that is.” Stricklin reportedly wants this to be more of a “restoration,” keeping the iconic structure intact.
^{sports.yahoo.com}

UT and Sarkisian Agree to Four-Year Contract Extension
The University of Texas and Head Football Coach Steve Sarkisian have agreed on a four-year contract extension, UT VP and Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced on Saturday. Sarkisian came to Texas in January 2021 and just completed the third year of a six-year contract, the four-year extension takes it to 2030.

"Coach Sark is an incredible coach, a first-class person, and a tremendous leader of men," said Kevin Eltife, Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents.
^{texassports.com}

Washington Hires Jedd Fisch: Ex-Arizona Coach Replaces Kalen DeBoer, Leads Huskies into Big Ten
"It is truly an honor to join the University of Washington and do my part in carrying on the tradition of a storied football program and world-class university," said Fisch in a UW release on replacing Kalen DeBoer, who left for the Alabama job this week following the retirement of Nick Saban. "The unbelievable success of the Huskies the last two seasons demonstrates what UW is capable of and I cannot wait to compete for Big Ten and national championships with tremendous young men and an outstanding coaching staff that we will assemble."
^{cbssports.com}

College Football: The Cost of Winning
Michigan won its first college football national championship since 1997 with a victory over Washington. With the CFP title comes more revenue … and more expenses. The school’s Champions Circle NIL collective is on pace to pay out $4.8 million this year.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

‘Judged By That Hire’: ADs Detail the Process, Pressure of Finding a Football Coach
As HBCU Sports’ Kendrick Marshall writes, “No other group of people in the world of college football — aside from head coaches and coordinators — are under more inherent pressure and scrutiny than university athletic directors.

The equivalent of a professional sports league general manager has several responsibilities respective to their roles. They help fundraise. They manage multimillion-dollar facilities. But nothing seemingly is more important than hiring a coach, mainly for football.

Whether it is fair or not, the tenure of an athletic director — how successful that person is — will ultimately be defined by that one hire.”
^{hbcusports.com}

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