Marchand Sports Media

Marchand & Meterparel: Everybody Loves Sports Media Rundown 

WHAT’S UP

Andrew Marchand: Cris Collinsworth 

Jon Meterparel: Kevin Burkhardt

WHAT’S DOWN

Marchand: Greg Olsen

Meterparel: Bill Belichick

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

THE QUESTIONS

* What happens to the insider game after Adrian Wojnarowski’s surprise retirement?

Does ESPN replace Woj? Do they go closer by committee? Shams? Do reporters want the job? Adam Schefter’s comments.

* What do you think of Cris Collinsworth closing in on a contract extension with NBC?

NBC’s succession plan worked with Mike Tirico and Al Michaels/Bob Costas, but Collinsworth survived Drew Brees.

* What did we think of Tom Brady in Week 3?

Brady struggled big time with cliches.

Does he have the instincts?

* What are we hearing on the ESPN NBA No. 1 team front?

The latest and some new names.

* The future of Sports Media presented by WSC Sports: 

What was the biggest takeaway from The Main Event interview with MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson and Robert Fishman?

ESPN’s plan should work for DTC, while MLB has a real streaming issue for its big market clubs.

* What do we make of the Caitlin Clark WNBA regular season ratings? She’s the one.

* You make the call: New segment, what do we think of this Connor Onion call on Fox Sports of Colorado’s win over Baylor?

YOUR QUESTIONS

* Could you see Woj doing any kind of content? Using his NBA connections to bring folks to St Bonnie’s campus? Jessie Karungu, subscriber ​​

THURSDAY’S GUEST

The Main Event with Andrew Marchand on Thursday is with ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne. You can find it on this same feed. Thanks for listening and subscribing.

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

On The Main Event, Andrew Marchand is joined by two of the top analysts in the business, MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson and Robert Fishman. The trio discussed ESPN/Disney’s future dire…

MARCHAND & METERPAREL: Everybody Loves Sports Media Rundown

WHAT’S UP

Andrew Marchand: Tom Brady 

Jon Meterparel: Kenny Albert

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

WHAT’S DOWN

Marchand: Jesse Palmer

Meterparel: Terry Bradshaw

THE QUE…

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

On The Main Event with Andrew Marchand, Andrew talks with Booger McFarland. McFarland, 46, explains the funny story of how he went from Anthony to Booger and why his attempt to switch back failed at LSU. He goes behind-the-scenes at ESPN about how the Monday Night Football happened, the Booger Mobile and whatever happened to the most famous crane in NFL TV history.

He also talked about the influence of Mike Greenberg, his relationship with the legendary Chris Berman and his doughnut disses of Dan “Big Cat” Katz on X.

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. Next week’s Everybody Loves Sports Media will be only for paid subscribers. Sign-up for free or paid at AndrewMarchand.com

WHAT’S UP

Andrew Marchand: Greg Olsen

Jon Meterparel: Mike Tirico

WHAT’S DOWN

Marchand: Scott Hanson

Meterparel: WFAN Executives

THE QUESTIONS

*  What did we think of Tom Brady’s debut?

*  How can Brady become better?

*  What else did we think about Week 1 in the NFL?

NFL greed on Friday night with Peacock game … Jeff Darlington should have the “Cops” song play when he comes on-air. … Matt Ryan debut on CBS’ NFL Today, while James Brown pays tribute to Boomer Esiason & Phil Simms. …Sunday Ticket worth it?

*  College GameDay vs. Big Noon Kickoff: It is turning into a great college football rivalry?

Both shows are good. Colt McCoy struggles on Saturday night national TV debut.

* The future of Media presented by WSC Sports: What happens with ESPN’s equity play as it goes direct to consumer?

NFL and NBA talks are stalled for now, but digital players could still team with ESPN.

*  Is it the right move by Audacy New York president Chris Oliviero to bring back John Sterling for the playoffs to call Yankee games on WFAN?

YOUR QUESTIONS

* Who is likely to call the Netflix games? Neil Schoolnik from X. 

Peter Schrager is an interesting option.

THURSDAY’S GUEST

The Main Event with Andrew Marchand on Thursday is with ESPN’s Booger McFarland. You can find it on this same feed. Thanks for listening and subscribing at AndrewMarchand.com. 

THE MAIN EVENT RUNDOWN

In the Main Event with Andrew Marchand, Marchand spoke with Jim Nantz for nearly an hour. Topics included Nantz’ first time ever on-air during John Sterling’s New York radio show, Marchand’s reporting on Nantz wanting “Romo money,” how Nantz met Mike Francesa and how he helped him land WFAN job, Marchand’s criticism of Nantz-Romo on the Super Bowl, CBS’ Peyton Manning pursuit in the middle of the Romo negotiations, how Nantz got to CBS and the emotions of his college roommate Fred Couples winning The Masters. Plus, A.I. Nantz at Masters?

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported publication. To receive new video and audio podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

Here are the highlights of the chronological rundown:

* Nantz was the captain of his high school golf and basketball team, called into John Sterling’s talk show, which was the first time Nantz was on air.

* Nantz and his college roommate and teammate Fred Couples used to rehearse green jacket Masters ceremony at the University of Houston. Then they did it for real and Nantz thought he might meltdown on air because it was so emotional.

* Early in his career, calling BYU games with Steve Young and Utah Jazz’s games with Hot Rod Hundley.

* How he beat out Roy Firestone to earn his first CBS job at 26 years old.

* How he nearly lost the CBS job because he didn’t know what swordfish was when he went out with his future bosses.

* His relationship with his good friend, Mike Francesa, how he met him and how he helped him become a WFAN legend.

* When Brent Musburger was fired in 1990 during the Final Four and Nantz got elevated to the lead voice of the college hoops. What was his perspective.

* What was it like for him to not call the Final Four this past March after 32 years?

* He had planned to still do the NCAA championship tournament trophy presentation, but then didn’t, what happened?

* The future of Sports Media presented by WSC Sports: When he talks to his good friend, Al Michaels, does he speak with Al or A.I. Al?

* Nantz wants to call at least another 11 more Masters until he is 76.

* Nantz seemed to be considering some Nantz A.I. on the Masters one day.

* Nantz on getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* How he replaced Greg Gumbel as the CBS’ No. 1 NFL play-by-player in 2004.

* What happened at the end with Phil Simms’ after their 13-year partnership.

* Nantz and Michaels both knew Tony Romo was the future of sports broadcasting long before CBS hired him.

* Romo decided to go to CBS in 2017 instead of playing for the Texans or Broncos.

* During the Romo negotiations that ended in Romo receiving a 10-year, $180 million deal, CBS reached out to Peyton Manning to replace Romo. Nantz said he didn’t call Manning to gauge his interest.

* Nantz and Marchand go at it about if he asked for “Romo money” or not in his latest CBS contract agreed upon in 2021.

*  Players had to decide if money or legacy was more important in going to LIV or not.

* In his column in The Athletic, Marchand criticized Nantz and Romo on the Super Bowl, including the final call, Nantz responded to it.

* An agreement to do Round 2 of the Main Event with Nantz.

Marchand Sports Media is a listener-supported platform. To receive new pods and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.com.

Marchand & Meterparel: Everybody Loves Sports Media Rundown 

WHAT’S UP

Andrew Marchand: Jason McCourty

Jon Meterparel: Joel Klatt 

WHAT’S DOWN

Marchand: Rob Manfred

Meterparel: Gus Johnson 

THE QUESTIONS

* What are the biggest takeaways of the college football weekend? It feels bigger than ever with GameDay and Big Noon and the new setups of ESPN’s SEC behemoth and the Big 10’s NFL model .

* What should we expect from Tom Brady? How has Brady prepared? The NFL restrictions? What are his two keys to success?

*  Andrew reported in The Athletic that ESPN’s top candidates to join Mike Breen and Doris Burke on its No. 1 NBA broadcast team are Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler and Jay Bilas. What will happen? What should happen?

*  What should we make of the Disney/DirecTV fight that took ESPN/ABC off the air during the US Open and LSU-USC? Monday Night Football is the key date.

* The future of Sports Media presented by WSC Sports: What should MLB be cognizant of in a post-RSN dominated local rights world?

*  John Sterling may come back to call the Yankees playoff games in October. He retired in April and Rickie Ricardo, Justin Shackill and Emmanuel Berbari have been the replacements. Is it right for him to come back now for the postseason? Meterparel says no.

*  For The Athletic, Andrew reported the US Open media rights deal with ESPN is for 12 year and more than $2 billion deal, what should we make of it? ESPN has added to its rights’ moat. 

YOUR QUESTIONS

*  Is Amazon happy with its NFL booth? Herbie is not great on NFL and Al is nowhere near what he used to be. … George, @Giants26 on X

* What’s the long term future look like for the NFL Sunday Ticket, given the future media deals for the league? … @MattRamas on X

Thursday’s Guest

The Main Event with Andrew Marchand on Thursday is with CBS’ Jim Nantz. You can find it on this same feed. Thanks for listening and subscribing.

THE RUNDOWN

In “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand,” Marchand spoke with the President and COO of Endeavor and TKO, Mark Shapiro. Shapiro first rose to prominence as the head of production and programming with ESPN at age 32. Today, he is a leader for one of the most important companies in all of sports and entertainment. Here is what Marchand and Shapiro discussed.

Marchand Sports Media is an independent listener-supported platform. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

* Shapiro on his childhood and the influence of his mom working at Time.

* How the heck did he run programming and production at ESPN by the time he was 32?

* How Mike Lupica was offered to co-host PTI after Tony Kornheiser first said no.

* How NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue suggested to Disney’s Michael Eisner it might be smart to cancel “Playmakers.”

* At 31, how Shapiro almost became the head of ABC Entertainment in a secret meeting with Eisner and Bob Iger at Hamburger Hamlet 

* Why didn’t ESPN just keep Al Michaels and John Madden when it took over Monday Night Football?

* Shapiro’s plan to put Al Michaels, Joe Theismann and Troy Aikman as ESPN’s new MNF team

* Shapiro offering Aikman $4M to move from Fox to join ESPN’s MNF.

* How did the WWE end up with Netflix for $5.2 billion and 10 years.

* How does Shapiro look at upcoming UFC deal

* What did Shapiro think of the NBA TV deals

* How Disney could have kept NBC out of Sundays.

* How Shapiro thought Tony Romo’s $180 million deal was a bad one.

* What is Stephen A. Smith’s value with his contract up soon

* What does Shapiro think of Venu Sports and ESPN’s direct to consumer plans.

THE RUNDOWN

WHAT’S UP

Andrew Marchand: Jay Marine, Amazon Prime Video

Jon Meterparel: Dan Hicks, NBC Sports

WHAT’S DOWN

Marchand: Venu Sports

Meterparel: The “We” and “Us” analysts

THE QUESTIONS

* Is Tom Brady one of the top 5 biggest stories in the NFL season, not just media?

* What are the other biggest on-air NFL stories? It starts with Bill Belichick

* How did Nick Saban do in his debut for College GameDay in Ireland?

* What do we make of the ESPN layoffs of Sam Ponder and Robert Griffin III and Mike Greenberg’s promotion? 

Who are the winners in the ESPN reorganization?

* The future of Media presented by WSC Sports: What should be the biggest takeaway from the NBA TV deals in terms of the future of sports media?

YOUR QUESTIONS

* From full-time subscriber, George S. Boath: What are your thoughts on the future of college sports in the wake of NIL, unionization and payment? George’s full comments are on AndrewMarchand.com

Thursday’s Guest

The Main Event with Andrew Marchand on Thursday will feature Endeavor and TKO Group President Mark Shapiro. You can find it on this same feed. Thanks for listening, watching and subscribing. 

We are starting our twice-weekly sports media podcasts on Aug. 27th. Every Tuesday morning, “Marchand & Meterparel: Everybody Loves Sports Media” will discuss the biggest stories in the game. Andrew Marchand will be joined by the voice of Boston College football, Jon Meterparel.

On Thursday mornings, “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand” will have Marchand interviewing the biggest names in front of the cameras and network and streamer decision makers. Both podcasts will aim to be 30 to 40 minutes in length.

For more information go to AndrewMarchand.com. Full subscribers will get all the benefits with potential more plans in the works.

Once you sign up, the podcasts will be available wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, etc) or you can find them in your email or on AndrewMarchand.com.