Andrew Marchand, senior sports media columnist for the New York Post and John Ourand, a writer at Sports Business Journal have teamed up for a new weekly podcast about sports media.
They’ll cover the business beyond the buzzer – the hottest headlines, network deals, ratings, trends – it’s everything you need to know with the best sources in the business.
Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening platform, or listen right on nypost.com. Available every Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.
Episode 126: Super Bowl’s Broken Record, NBA All-Star Game, NASCAR president Steve Phelps, and Fox Analyst Clint Bowyer
Feb. 14, 2024
In this Valentine’s Day edition of the Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, SBJ’s Austin Karp puts a bow on the Chiefs Super Bowl victory and the Big Game’s record-breaking audience numbers. With the Daytona 500 right around the corner, SBJ’s Adam Stern, NASCAR President Steve Phelps and NASCAR on Fox analyst Clint Bowyer drop in to talk about what to expect in the “Great American Race” as well as the new Netflix series, “Full Speed.” And with the NBA All-Star Game set for Indianapolis, SBJ’s Tom Friend holds court on the league’s media landscape and his expectations from the festivities in the Circle City.
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Episode 125: Super Bowl LVIII is upon us plus Big Get Guests Harold Bryant of CBS and Fred Gaudelli of Amazon and NBC Sports
Feb. 7, 2024
On this week’s pod, Andrew Marchand is joined by Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp to discuss the $5 billion?WWE deal with Netflix and what it means for the future of sports rights. The duo discuss the impact of the agreement on the NBA’s forthcoming broadcast negotiations. They also highlight the bonkers NFL TV ratings, while wading into Tony Romo and Jim Nantz’ struggles on their broadcasts. Plus, they pick their “Who’s up” and “Who’s down” of the week.
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Episode 124: Super Bowl matchup set, NHL All-Star Game heads north, and the Taylor Swift Effect
Jan. 31, 2024
New name, same great information. In this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, SBJ’s Austin Karp reacts to the Super?Bowl?matchup?between the Chiefs and 49ers with SBJ Football Writer Ben Fischer. The duo also discuss Who’s Up and Who’s Down in Sports Media, the NFL Pro?Bowl, and?Super?Bowl?Opening Night. SBJs’s Alex Silverman also joins Karp to talk about the upcoming?NHL?All–Star?Game?in Toronto and how some?NHL?RSNs are finding success in surprising ways.??All?of this plus Karp’s Corner takes a deeper look into the “Taylor?Swift?effect.”
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Episode 123: WWE/Netflix, NBA impact, NFL bonker ratings and Tony Romo
Jan. 24, 2024
On this week’s pod, Andrew Marchand is joined by Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp to discuss the $5 billion?WWE deal with Netflix and what it means for the future of sports rights. The duo discuss the impact of the agreement on the NBA’s forthcoming broadcast negotiations. They also highlight the bonkers NFL TV ratings, while wading into Tony Romo and Jim Nantz’ struggles on their broadcasts. Plus, they pick their “Who’s up” and “Who’s down” of the week.
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Episode 122: NFL-ESPN deal, Stephen A. & McAfee talk with special guest host Michael Smith.
Jan. 17, 2024
Andrew Marchand and guest host Amazon Prime Video/NBC/Peacock’s Michael Smith talk about the current state of media, including the NFL’s advanced talks with Disney/ESPN about an equity stake in the network in exchange for NFL Media. The two go into the current state of affairs involving ESPN, Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock. All that, and each host gives his “Who’s up” and “Who’s down” for the week.
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Episode 121: Pat McAfee, Peacock and NFL with guest host Chris (Mad Dog) Russo
Jan. 10, 2024
On this week’s edition, Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo is the guest host, joining Andrew Marchand. Marchand and Russo go into full detail about McAfee, Aaron Rodgers and Norby Williamson. They also dissect ESPN’s reaction to McAfee calling Williamson, one of the top executives at the company, a “rat.” Marchand and Russo look at the Peacock playoff game that will be exclusively streamed, pitting the Chiefs and the Dolphins. Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp joins the show to discuss how ESPN presented McAfee’s ratings and to play the old Mike & the Mad Dog game of guessing the ratings. Plus, Russo goes into First Take and Stephen A. Smith’s impact on his career. Plus, Russo joins Marchand in offering his “Who’s up” and “Who’s Down” with a classic Mad Dog spin on it.
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Episode 120: Guest co-host Joe Buck on Al Michaels, Tom Brady and his Fox reunion
Jan. 3, 2024
On this week’s Marchand and Ourand podcast, Joe Buck is the guest co-host with Andrew Marchand. John Ourand is off to Puck. Marchand and Buck both give their Who’s up and Who’s Down of the week. The duo discuss Buck’s reunion with his Fox family at Jimmy Johnson’s Ring of Honor ceremony in Dallas, what Tom Brady will be facing, why Buck and Troy Aikman have that is hard to replace, how Al Michaels has been treated by NBC, Bucks’ father’s Jack being fired in airport by CBS Radio, Buck’s feelings on baseball and what makes a great final call.
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Episode 119: Sports media 2024
Dec. 27, 2023
On this week’s Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand preview the biggest sports media stories of 2024. The includes the return of Marchand’s “Brady Meter,” which gives the odds on whether Hall of Fame QB Tom Brady will call a game as Fox’s top NFL analyst. The two also discuss to options for Greg Olsen, the analyst Brady is replacing.
Other topics include predictions about the NBA’s media rights deal, which is expected to be completed in the first part of 2024; ESPN’s direct-to-consumer plans, which are expected to come at some point in 2025; Disney’s push to find investors for ESPN next year; and the likely outcome from all the chaos surround regional sports networks right now. Other topics include: Streaming company strategies, the Paris Olympics, the CFP media negotiations and Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown.
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Episode 118: The power of Stephen A Smith; Can Amazon save the RSNs; and John Ourand’s long goodbye
Dec. 20, 2023
Andrew Marchand published a list of the 25 most powerful people in sports media this year. Stephen A. Smith topped the list, followed by Lionel Messi, CBS’ Sean McManus, ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro and Fox Sports’ Eric Shanks. Hosts Marchand and John Ourand debated the executives and talent who should be on the list; the ones who should be off the list; and the ones that were placed too high or too low. The two then talked about the repercussions from having Amazon potentially invest in the bankrupt RSN company, Diamond Sports Group.
Marchand and Ourand handicapped the NBA talks and broke down Josh Krulewitz’ big promotion to run ESPN’s comms team. Ourand ended the pod by discussing his decision to move from SBJ to Puck Media.
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Episode 117: NBA, NFL, Al Michaels, Shohei Ohtani and Karp’s Korner
Dec. 13, 2023
On this episode of the Marchand & Ourand Sports Media podcast, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand offer their best projections about who will wind up with NBA rights. Marchand & Ourand also give a behind-the-scenes account of what actually transpired when the NFL decided to flex a game into “Monday Night Football.”
Marchand gives all the information surrounding his scoop that NBC will use Ian Eagle – and not Al Michaels – in the booth for one of its NFL playoff games. The hosts discuss the controversies around inaccurate reports about Shohei Ohtani’s free agency, including one from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who mistakenly reported that Ohtani was on a plane to Toronto. Ourand talks about how the most team-friendly RSN deal in the country allowed the Dodgers to afford Ohtani’s monster contract. SBJ’s Austin Karp joins for another installment of Karp’s Korner, where he talks about the television success of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament and the NFL’s regular season. As always, Marchand and Ourand tell listeners who’s up and who’s down in sports media this week.
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Episode 116: TV’s impact on the CFP, NFL, NBA and MLB
Dec. 6, 2023
As college football readies for the CFP and the NFL enters the final stage of its season, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand look into the biggest media stories in both sports. For college football, that includes the CFP, the end of the Pac-12 conference and the final SEC on CBS telecast. With the NFL, Marchand and Ourand dissect the NFL’s decision to use flex scheduling on for “Monday Night Football,” and they analyze Amazon’s record-setting viewership for the Seahawks-Cowboys game.
Marchand and Ourand devote a topic to the NBA’s ongoing media rights negotiations. Marchand looks into how MLB Network is treating MLB’s Winter Meetings. And Ourand explains why the DirecTV-Tegna carriage battle is so important to the sports media business.
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Episode 115: NFL Feast, NBA In-Season and SI’s AI dilemma
Nov. 29, 2023
The NFL set a viewership record on Thanksgiving Day across CBS, Fox and NBC. It also kicked off the first Black Friday game in its history, which was carried on Amazon Prime. Pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the league’s media dominance and whether Black Friday will follow that trajectory. Now that the NBA is through the round-robin part of its In-Season Tournament, Marchand and Ourand dissect what they like and don’t like about the tournament and whether it has the staying power to be one of the NBA’s tent-pole events.
Two of the most controversial sports media stories of the last two weeks made it onto the pod’s list of topics this week. One is the Futurism report that Sports Illustrated had been using AI-generated stories and AI-generated bylines without properly alerting readers. The other is Charissa Thompson’s comments to the “Pardon My Take” podcast that she used to make up sideline reports when she wasn’t able to track down a coach. This week also sees the return of the “MandO Mailbag.”
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Episode 114: The Big Get Jay Marine of Amazon on the NBA, NFL and future of sports
Nov. 22, 2023
The head of Amazon’s global sports Jay Marine joins the pod this week to discuss Amazon’s sports strategy and how the company uses sports to grow its Prime Video business. Marine opens up to hosts Andrew?Marchand?and John Ourand about Amazon’s NBA negotiations, saying that Amazon wants to have meaningful games – including playoffs – on Amazon Prime. Marine also provides updates on Amazon’s negotiations to get NASCAR rights and CFP rights, and offers a preview to what viewers can expect during the first Black Friday game.?Marchand?and Ourand offer their picks for who is up in sports media, and who is down in sports media.
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Episode 113: The Big Get Eli Manning, ESPN’s DTC bet, Netflix’s NBA plan and Al Michaels’ future
Nov. 15, 2023
Disney CEO Bob Iger recently announced the year – 2025 – when ESPN will take its main cable channel direct-to-consumer. Host Andrew Marchand, who has reported on 2025 as the date for a couple of years, and John Ourand discuss what needs to happen before the 2025 launch date. The two hosts identify storylines that should develop over the next two years, as it heads direct-to-consumer. In light of SBJ’s report on Netflix’s interest in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Marchand and Ourand discuss Netflix’s aspirations to invest in live sports. The hosts also dive into Marchand’s exclusive interview with Al Michaels and talk about the future of the broadcasting legend.
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Episode 112: The NBA’s local solution, MLB’s offseason to-do list and The Big Get Mike McCarley on his and Tiger Woods new venture
Nov. 8, 2023
The NBA agreed to a deal with the bankrupt company Diamond Sports Group, which runs the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks. Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss how that deal affects the 15 NBA teams that have Diamond deals; how the deal could impact the league’s national TV negotiations; and what the deal means for Diamond Sports. Marchand and Ourand also discuss how MLB will approach its off-season from a sports media standpoint and look into the takeaways from its ultra successful Chiefs-Dolphins game in Germany last weekend.
?Mike McCarley, the founder and CEO of TMRW Sports and TGL, joins the pod as The Big Get this week and tells the story about how Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and he decided to launch this venture. McCarley details what viewers should expect when it launches in January on ESPN. A long-time veteran of the sports media business, McCarley details the current market for sports media rights and offers his two cents on the LIV Golf controversy that took over the sport this summer.
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Episode 111: NFL problems, World Series problems, Ballys problems and streaming problems
Nov. 1, 2023
YouTubeTV experienced a lot of streaming problems on Sunday, and Bally Sports’ app was not working on Monday night. Co-hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand dive into what those two problems say about where and how streaming fits into the current state of sports media.
In other topics, Marchand and Ourand offer their predictions on the NBA’s next rights deal, talk about MLB’s success this season regardless of World Series ratings and dive into MLS post-season run on AppleTV+. Marchand discusses the sports media listening tour he took last week in Minnesota, where local fans had a lot of opinions about how much they would pay to stream their teams’ games.
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Episode 110: DirecTV’s Rob Thun on the future of sports media, and Fox’s Joe Davis is The Big Get
Oct. 25, 2023
DirecTV’s top content executive Rob Thun joins the pod as co-host this week to discuss the problems regional sports networks are having today and talk about how the satellite operator plans to handle local sports rights in the future. Thun tells co-host John Ourand how some of the local broadcast deals some teams have made aren’t as good as they seem, and he calls on network groups to work more closely with DirecTV as they push out direct-to-consumer services. This is the first time in nearly 30 years that DirecTV is not carrying the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and Thun talks about why he made the decision to pass on it.
The voice of baseball for Fox, Joe Davis, joins the pod as The Big Get and talks about how his preparation for the upcoming World Series differs from how he prepared for his first one last year. Davis gets into how the pitch clock affected how he called games this season; what it’s like to call games in Philadelphia; why so many young play-by-players are calling games nowadays; how he got started in the business; and the difference between a Texas chop and a Baltimore chop.
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Episode 109: ESPN’s streaming plans, Pat McAfee and sports rights predictions
Oct. 18, 2023
As rumors about ESPN’s streaming plans continue to swirl around, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand separate fact from fiction. They look at the types of companies that would be interested in taking an ownership stake in ESPN and discuss the timing for when ESPN takes its main network – the mothership – direct-to-consumer.
Other topics have the hosts handicapping expected winners in the rights negotiations happening with the NBA, NASCAR and College Football Play. They discuss Marchand’s report of Pat McAfee paying guests and offer a review of the MLB playoffs so far. Marchand and Ourand offer a tribute to the retiring NHL analyst Barry Melrose. And they talk about Chris LaPlaca, ESPN’s long-time communications executive who announced his retirement this week.
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Episode 108: The CFP auction, MLB post-season and more Taylor Swift talk
Oct. 11, 2023
Negotiations for the College Football Playoff’s media rights negotiations have started, and pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand break down the media companies that will be involved and the likely winners once the CFP expands to add at least four more games. The hosts discuss the NFL’s request to have TV networks run ads for Taylor Swift’s upcoming movie and preview what to expect this week when Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs play on Thursday. As the NBA preps for a media rights negotiation, Marchand and Ourand look into what leagues can do to make their regular season games more valuable.
This week’s episode sees the return of Karp’s Korner, as SBJ’s ratings guru Austin Karp breaks down MLB’s regular season ratings, provides an update on MLB’s post-season ratings and previews what to expect with MLB’s World Series ratings. Karp provides the reasons why national numbers are lagging local viewership trends in the sport.
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Episode 107: The Big Get Sean McManus, Deion, Woj, MLB & Swifties
Oct. 4, 2023
Last week, Sean McManus announced that he was stepping down as CBS Sports chairman next spring after a 27-year run. This week, McManus joins the podcast to talk about his career and the state of sports media. In a wide-ranging interview, McManus talks about his start in the business, working for legendary executives like Don Ohlmeyer, Geoff Mason and Mark McCormack. McManus takes listeners behind the curtain for the NFL deal he struck in 1998 that changed the fortunes of his network. McManus also discusses the current state of sports media, including the rise of digital streaming and Paramount+, CBS’ appetite for new sports rights deals and Tony Romo’s performance as the network’s top NFL game analyst.
Pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss ESPN’s alternate “Toy Story” telecast that ran on ESPN+ alongside its exclusive Falcons-Jaguars game from London. They banter about the effect Taylor Swift and Deion Sanders have on NFL and college football TV ratings. Marchand talks about Mark Jackson’s broadcasting future, and Ourand offers an update on Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy saga.
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Episode 106: Rob Manfred is the Big Get and Sean McManus’s big goodbye
Sept. 27, 2023
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred joins Andrew Marchand and John Ourand on this week’s show for a half-hour interview. During the sit-down, Manfred goes deep into the future of local media, blackouts, Apple, Peacock, ESPN, fragmentation, Yankees TV, what the future of sports gambling will look like, how a different pitch clock was considered for October, the future of the Orioles in Baltimore and the A’s in Oakland.
Prior to the interview, Marchand and Ourand give their “Who’s up and Who’s down for the week” and delve deep into the legendary career of retiring CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus. Plus, there is Taylor Swift talk.
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Episode 105: Bob Iger’s big move, Deion’s rise & the NFL TV review
Sept. 20, 2023
A bunch of breaking news this week dominates this week’s topics, from Bob Iger’s decision to simulcast most of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” games on ESPN and ESPN New York’s decision to relinquish its 98.7 FM signal next year to Warner Bros. Discovery plan to launch a live sports add-on tier via its Max streaming service and the XFL and USFL’s plan to merge spring football leagues. Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand have reported on all these stories and dissect why they are happening and explain how these moves will alter the sports media landscape.
Now that we’re through two weeks of the 2023 NFL season, Marchand and Ourand dive into the biggest sports media storylines that have emerged, including YouTubeTV’s debut with “NFL Sunday Ticket,” the potential for “NFL RedZone” to cut into YouTubeTV’s subscriber numbers and the massive audience Amazon Prime brought to its first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season. Marchand and Ourand also tackle the impact Colorado coach Deion Sanders already has had on the college football landscape. Other topics include rights negotiation updates for the NBA, NASCAR, UFC and WWE. And Ourand pays homage to a week’s worth of great Orioles calls by MASN’s Kevin Brown.
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Episode 104: The inside view on ESPN-Charter and The Big Get Marcus Spears
Sept. 13, 2023
Just hours before the first “Monday Night Football” game of the season, Disney and Charter reached a deal to restore ABC and ESPN on Spectrum cable systems. Disney’s Justin Connolly was one of the key executives on that deal, and he joins the pod’s first “Inside the News” segment. Connolly discusses what last weekend was like as the two sides had round-the-clock discussions to close the deal. Other topics include why the deal works for ESPN, whether this deal provides a blueprint for other distributors, what implications this deal has on ESPN’s planned direct-to-consumer service and how this deal will affect ESPN’s aggressiveness in acquiring sports rights. Following the interview, hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand offer their opinions on the deal and discuss the NFL’s first week of the 2023 regular season.
ESPN analyst Marcus Spears joins as The Big Get and entertainingly outlines his progression from the NFL to ESPN. Spears talks about his new deal to stay at ESPN and the other opportunities that cropped up as he went through the negotiating process. Other topics include the media challenges involved with playing for bigger market teams; his influences in sports media; and an animated discussion of Paul Finebaum’s hairstyle.
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Episode 103: Handicapping the ESPN-Charter Battle Royale and The Big Get Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen
Sept. 6, 2023
All Disney networks, including ESPN, went dark on Charter’s Spectrum cable systems on Aug. 31, affecting close to 15 million subscribers. Pod hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss how ESPN and Charter got to this point and predict what should happen next. The outcome of this deal has tentacles well beyond just ESPN and Charter. It has big ramifications for the entire sports business. Just a couple of days before the start of the NFL’s regular season, Marchand and Ourand identify the NFL media storylines they will be following most closely this season. And they discuss Chris Fowler’s Instagram video explaining why he made several mistakes announcing a recent college football game.
Fox Sports’ top NFL broadcast booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen join the pod as The Big Get this week. The duo tells stories from last season when they replaced Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as the top crew. And they talk about the specter of another season calling games with Tom Brady waiting in the wings to take over as Fox’s top NFL analyst for the 2024-25 season. Marchand brings out his Brady Meter for this conversation. Burkhardt and Olsen also discuss some of the biggest sports media stories, including the current state of college athletics.
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Episode 102: Football’s Back: NBC, Tony Romo and The Big Get Mark Ingram II
Aug. 30, 2023
Changes to the college football television landscape is the top topic on this week’s show, the hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discussing the new Big Ten deals that take effect this season on CBS, Fox and NBC. The co-hosts discuss everything from the analysts that will be used on these games to Peacock’s role in streaming games. The hosts then turn their attention to the free-agency frenzy that had Stephen A. Smith’s “First Take” show compete with Skip Bayless’ “Undisputed.”
The TV networks’ ratings dispute with the NFL, Nielsen and Amazon is one of the biggest topics in sports media today, and Marchand and Ourand talk about why the TV networks are so publicly at odds over Nielsen’s plan to incorporate first-party data from Amazon into its “Thursday Night Football” ratings report. The hosts then turn their attention to Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ plan to get out of the regional sports network business.
As always, Marchand and Ourand offer their picks on Who’s Up and Who’s Down for the week. This week, those picks include Patrick Crumb, Kevin Connors, Rob Manfred and Tony Romo. The hosts debut a new segment this week: the MandO Mailbag.
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Episode 101: ESPN and Fox talent battle, plus The Big Get Matthew Berry
Aug. 23, 2023
Fantasy guru Matthew Berry joins the pod this week just a week after news broke that he raised $2 million for his Fantasy Life with an all-star roster of investors including everyone from Casey Wasserman and Tony Khan to Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. Berry discusses his move from ESPN to NBC and how he rode the rise of fantasy sports to create a career. A student of the sports media business, Berry opined on his thoughts of where the business is headed and how today’s sports media stars can amass audiences.
Hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss the biggest sports media news of the day: ESPN’s decision to part ways with Lee Fitting, the executive behind the massive success of College GameDay. Fitting oversaw the production behind all college and pro football at the network. Marchand and Ourand discuss daytime studio changes at ESPN and Fox shows “First Take” and “Undisputed.” The two hosts also highlight reader feedback from their regular disagreement over Amazon’s and Apple’s interest in sports media.
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For a full list of episodes please click below:
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