The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand returns to parse MLB’s media rights reshuffle and how the league will be packaged across its many platforms, from Netflix to NBC. Marchand and John also discuss ESPN’s MLB programming pivot, grade Peacock’s Legendary February, and predict who will be the winners and losers of the NFL’s looming rights renegotiations. Plus: Barry Bonds’ new gig with Netflix and his enduring case for a spot in Cooperstown.

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ESPN’s college basketball savant Jay Bilas joins John with a surprisingly optimistic diagnosis of the sport. He argues the on-court product has never been better, and makes a case that N.I.L. has only strengthened—not fractured—collegiate athletics. Plus, his thoughts on reform, his take on March Madness expansion, and why the game’s best days may still be ahead.

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Veteran sports columnist Christine Brennan joins John live from Milan to chew over the buzziest storylines emerging from the Winter Olympics. She discusses the unusually charged political atmosphere—including the notable booing of J.D. Vance at the opening ceremony, even as the U.S. team received significant applause—and why politics feels more front-and-center than usual among athletes. They also examine the controversy surrounding Casey Wasserman and whether his role leading the 2028 Los Angeles Games could be jeopardized after his name surfaced in the latest Epstein files.

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NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell joins John to reflect on his 20-year rise inside the company—going from the infamous “hat dance guy” to the executive now steering the motorsport’s high-stakes future. Then he breaks down the new playoff format, NASCAR’s global ambitions, why staying a “must-have” media property is more critical than ever, and much, much more.

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Ben Strauss, the now-former Washington Post media reporter, joins John to share a firsthand account of being swept up in the paper’s mass layoffs and the shuttering of its sports desk. Then they dive into NBC’s Super Bowl performance and the broader NFL ecosystem—from its international expansion and looming media rights negotiations to the league’s outsized influence over traditional networks, and much more.

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Live from Santa Clara, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio returns to the pod to take stock of the NFL’s biggest off-the-field storylines, from potential reforms to the Hall of Fame voting process after the first-ballot snubs of Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, to looming changes to the salary cap. They also weigh into the concerns about officiating, the league’s ongoing struggle to make the Rooney Rule effective, the NFL’s accelerating pivot toward streaming, and much more.

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Top NFL exec Jeff Miller joins John for a candid pre–Super Bowl Sunday deep dive. They dig into the league’s landmark new deal with ESPN and what it signals about the NFL’s evolving media strategy, the league’s increasing use of A.I. in player health and safety, why the Rooney Rule fell flat this hiring cycle—and what, if anything, the league can do to fix it.

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ESPN’s Don Van Natta joins John to preview the biggest off-field storylines shaping Super Bowl week, starting with the news that stunned the league: Bill Belichick falling short of first-ballot Hall of Fame induction. They also dig into the NFL’s continued push toward an 18-game season, the criminal investigation into the NFLPA, Jerry Jones’s looming succession questions in Dallas, the Washington Post layoff saga—and more.

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Axios’s Sara Fischer returns to the pod to discuss the biggest storylines shaping the media and sports business—from the looming mass layoffs at The Washington Post to the implications of a potential Warner–Netflix merger. They also dig into TikTok’s new ownership structure, Peacock’s evolving sports rights strategy, and what it all signals about where the industry is headed.

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Washington Post contributor Danny Funt joins John to explore the uneasy moment facing the sports betting industry. As FanDuel and DraftKings feel the squeeze, Funt explains the hunt for higher margins, the marketing tactics fueling growth, and the growing demand for consumer protections. They also discuss how gambling has been increasingly woven into sports media—and whether the U.S. is inching toward tighter, European-style regulation.

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