House of Strauss

We did another video House of Glass, this time LIVE with Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports. What a great element you live viewers brought. We were heartened by the audience that arrived and encourage all of you to share word of this experiment if you can. I thought it was a great show, in my humble opinion.

Topics! Discussed!

* Why Sophie Cunningham’s politics have inspired calls for the Fever to get rid of her—and why we think that’s crazy.

* The Atlanta Dream’s curious definition of a “sellout”—and what it says about the WNBA’s post-Caitlin Clark reality.

* Braiden Bell was fired by the Blazers over tweets he wrote around age 15. Should teenage social-media posts really cost someone a job 15 years later?

* Bell wants his Blazers job back—and the lawyer representing him has already helped another fired NBA announcer get reinstated.

* Why I believe that the Blazers were not only morally wrong, but acting imprudently.

* Is cancellation culture actually “back,” or does Bell’s willingness to fight his firing show how much the environment has changed since 2018?

* The bizarre Dave Portnoy–Ryan Day feud, and how Ohio State reportedly helped push Portnoy off Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff.

* How much power does Ohio State have over Fox and the Big Ten? Enough, perhaps, to dictate who appears on television.

* What happened to Tony Romo? How an announcer went from revolutionary superstar to losing the very “superpower” that made him famous.

* I express my LOUD SKEPTICISM that the Justin Herbert problem is downstream of Jim Harbaugh or Mike McDaniel incompetence.

Once again, big thanks to Ryan for doing this and by all means, check out his great reporting at FOS.

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Hey good people! Our friends at Substack see potential in these cult classic House of Glass episodes and wanted to gauge the response from a more regular airing of them (in which we include video of our lovely faces). We’re going to be doing these shows biweekly at Tuesday 10 AM PST/1pm EST. Next time we’ll be doing a live version where we take some questions.

But today, we’ve got a great one for you. The main anchoring topic: Have we reached the “top” for the NFL and sports league business? Ryan Glasspiegel and I discuss topics that include but aren’t limited to:

* Is the NFL’s international expansion really about growing the game — or collecting billions in expansion fees?

* Are American sports leagues taking their loyal domestic fans for granted while chasing the “undecided whale” overseas?

* Why are ancient pocket passers suddenly walking off the couch and outperforming younger, more athletic quarterbacks?

* What Case Keenum’s resurrection says about the current state of NFL quarterback play.

* Did Ryan Glasspiegel actually predict the Patriots’ collapse because Drake Maye went on too many vacations?

* Could Mike Vrabel’s very public offseason embarrassment actually be affecting the Patriots on the field?

* The cable bundle is dying, local sports rights have collapsed — could national NFL and NBA TV money be next?

* The Sacramento Kings hot-mic scandal: normal private workplace chatter, outrageous double standard, or both?

* Mike Tomlin is doing something NFL coaches almost never do: publicly calling another coach’s game management “negligent.”

If you’re a House of Glass fan, please spread the word. We appreciate any and all of you who’ve supported our episodes over the years.

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Andrew Sharp came out heavy against the influx of indoor NFL stadiums. He writes:

Modern capitalism has been an object of considerable public debate over the past 10 years, and while I’m not particularly inclined to join our ongoing conversation about the historic merits or contemporary failings of Western markets, I will say this: we are building too many football stadiums with roofs.

I disagree with Andrew, but have my own modern NFL gripe: Too many international games. And so we discuss these topics but also the following:

* Morgan Wallen vs. the cultural gatekeepers.

* The 49ers’ cursed substation is gaining normie believers

* Andrew wants the NFL to stop building domes; Ethan wants a roof on Levi’s.

* Are we falsely romanticizing terrible weather games?

* Has the NFL’s global experiment actually worked?

* “Fracking the pie”: Can the NFL dilute its own product forever?

* Why watching football on Netflix feels wrong.

* The modern NFL is becoming a Starbucks.

* Should the Washington Redskins come back?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

The Glass Man is here with a lot of thoughts on the state of NFL television! We also discuss whether a group I’m calling “the sports libs” are gaining in the broader sports culture war. Topics include but aren’t limited to…

* Is ESPN preparing to break up Joe Buck and Troy Aikman?

* Why Troy Aikman might be the best analyst in sports

* Who could replace Aikman in ESPN’s top booth?

* Why NFL announcers matter more than the ratings suggest

* Does Jerry Jones still wield major influence over NFL television?

* Why networks seemingly can’t quit the NFC East

* Chris Simms’ viral rant and ESPN’s financial interest in fixing college football’s chaos

* Disney, the FCC, and the politics hovering over ESPN

* Has Pat McAfee actually improved College GameDay?

* The massive disconnect between GameDay’s critics and its ratings

* Are “the sports libs” making a comeback?

* Have America’s football fans reached Kelce-family saturation?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

We’re happy to have Freddie deBoer on to discuss a mutual obsession: The modern NFL. He’s got some issues, as do I, with how the league is covered by presumptive high priests of football analysis. Topics! Include!

* Is the NFL destroying its greatest advantage: scarcity?

* The NFL analyst class has a problem admitting, “We don’t know”

* Why social media has made every quarter…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

What a discussion we have for all of you. Topics! Include!

* Why the Clippers’ salary-cap cheating felt like a “victimless crime” only because they failed

* Wos argues the 2019–20 Clippers really were the NBA’s obvious championship favorite

* Was Steve Ballmer’s Clippers tenure actually a massive failure?

* Why today’s sports world increasingly operates on “what can I get away with?”

* Lane Kiffin and college football cheating

* The Patriots’ alleged optical-illusion field-goal trick: clever gamesmanship or just cheating?

* How media relationships — not necessarily money — can buy an NBA owner favorable coverage

* Nike’s collapse: Wos argues the company sacrificed its brand to please Wall Street

* Why Sydney Sweeney has cracked the code for selling sex in an increasingly sexless culture

* Why Sydney Sweeney can seemingly never reach the point of cultural overexposure

* The class politics behind the backlash to LeBron James’ Polymarket ad

* Wos’ friends thought the NBC broadcast was going to bring up Dianna Russini

* Sex, sports media and the fiction that reporters and athletes never become attracted to each other

* How much face has Mike Vrabel lost?

There’s perhaps no better person in media to discuss This Week in Golf Brand Turmoil than Jordan Rogers, former Nike executive and all-around golf guy. This was a great conversation and we explored so much within a recently disrupted industry. Topics! Include!

* The Good Good Callaway ad controversy and why it exploded

* How chronically online advertising escapes its intended audience

* The YouTube formula of chasing trends, titles and thumbnails

* Why golf’s old guard resents the YouTube golf boom

* Why mediocre golfers (Like LeBron) can become enormous golf stars

* Should Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark have apologized

* Why golf media and YouTube present two different Bryson DeChambeaus

* We dare discuss the “golf hotties” of Instagram: The strange economics and audience dynamics of female golf influencers

House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

It’s Cowherd Week at House of Strauss! Roughly once a year, we explore the state of sports media with one of the biggest voices in this industry. I’m pleased to say that Colin did not hold back.

Topics! With time stamps:

* 0:00 — Colin opens with his vacation movie reviews—and why modern horror films have completely lost him.

* 3:30 — Why Hollywood, sports media, and even Nike increasingly make products for insiders instead of consumers.

* 7:00 — Colin’s broadcasting philosophy

* 10:30 — The Portland debate: Could the Trail Blazers actually be at risk? Colin defends his controversial tweet that ignited social media.

* 22:00 — Colin unveils his favorite Warriors/Patriots theory on current GSW struggles

* 29:00 — Adam Silver’s NBA

* 44:00 — Colin believes the WNBA simply became too popular, too quickly—and why that’s created organizational growing pains.

* 1:19:15 — Colin’s “This will get Aggregated” Tony Romo take

* 1:23:00 — Colin closes by reflecting on vacation, returning to work, and why he still reads House of Strauss every day.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

A lot of fascinating ESPN dynamics to discuss this week. Ryan and I get into the nitty, the gritty and so much more. Topics! Include!

* The dynamics of Ryan Clark’s ESPN firing

* Inside the bizarre race between OutKick and Andrew Marchand to break ESPN’s biggest layoff story

* Is ESPN quietly becoming less political—or is something else really happening?

* The real forces behind ESPN’s layoffs—and why Disney deserves more of the blame than McAfee

* Why losing your ESPN job isn’t the career-ending disaster it used to be

* How YouTube completely changed the economics of sports media careers

* Sophie Cunningham is now probably more famous than A’ja Wilson

* Why the WNBA keeps making decisions that seem to work against its own popularity

* Could Sophie Cunningham become an even better player now that she’s become a cultural phenomenon?

* Can the Blazers really leave Portland—or do NBA expansion economics make relocation almost impossible?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

I know many sports sickos but Saam Esfandiari might be the sickest. The Light Years co-host has in depth opinions on basketball (of course), soccer, football, and even baseball. Today we decided to explore some connection points between these fields, so we can get a 30K view of what’s happening across sports.

Topics! Include!

* The bizarre Matt Miller fantasy-football scandal and what it says about the industry.

* Sam’s theory that LeBron won’t announce anything until he can completely own the media cycle.

* A historic NBA Summer League class

* Is American basketball about to reach a higher level of international dominance?

* Team USA keeps producing great players—but not MVP-level American superstars.

* The reason Spain and Argentina are soccer-dominant.

* The real reason the U.S. struggles to become a true soccer power—and why it goes far beyond youth-sports costs or athleticism.

* The emotional difference between watching a long touchdown run and a deep touchdown pass.

* Ethan’s frustration with the NFL using primitive statistics despite being America’s most complicated sport.

* Saam’s long held belief that quarterbacks are overrated

* How gambling partnerships may have pushed useful sports analytics behind proprietary paywalls.

* The hypothetical “James Harden of wide receivers” who could exploit pass-interference rules and make football unbearable.

* Saam’s argument for why he wants LeBron James on the Warriors