Sports Media With Richard Deitsch

Episode 243 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Boston Globe sports media writer Chad Finn. He is followed by Fred Segal, the author of Freezing Cold Takes: NFL. Football’s Most Inaccurate Predictions And The Fascinating Stories Behind Them. Since 2015, Segal has run the popular Old Takes Exposed account on Twitter. In this podcast, Deitsch and Finn discuss what Amazon’s huge ‘Thursday Night Football’ debut viewership number means; Amazon getting 11.8 million viewers on its own for the main broadcast and 13 million when you include the local broadcasts; Amazon’s first-party measurement, across all platforms, saying it averaged 15.3 million viewers in total; how to view the issues some viewers had; the PR push from Amazon and the NFL; broadcasting Aaron Judge’s record homer run and more. Segal discusses why he wanted to turn this content into a book; how he approached the research for this; his favorite NFL stories in the book;  the exploding growth of  Old Takes Exposed; how sports media

Episode 242 of the Sports Media Podcast features Anna Wolfe, an investigative reporter writing about poverty and economic justice at Mississippi Today. In this podcast, Wolfe discusses her eye-opening and vital reporting on an alleged massive criminal scandal in which prominent Mississippi officials misspent or stole millions in welfare funds intended for the nation’s poorest residents; the involvement of Brett Favre; the unfortunate truth that it took the star power of Favre to bring national attention to the case; the text messages of former Gov. Phil Bryant to Favre; what happened when Wolfe asked Favre questions by text in 2020; auditors finding that nonprofit leaders misspent at least $77 million in welfare funds and whether that number is actually low; dealing with Favre’s lawyer; where Favre’s potential criminal liability stands; the role of celebrity and sports celebrity in this story; the challenge of this type of reporting; the comparison of the cost of a volleyball stadium versus child care for 920

Episode 241 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a conversation with Fred Gaudelli, the executive producer for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, where he leads the TNF game production team headlined by Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, and Kaylee Hartung, and Pierre Moossa, the lead director of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video.  In this podcast, Gaudelli and Moossa discuss their evaluation of Amazon’s first regular-season broadcast, the Chiefs’ win over the Chargers; their specific roles for Thursday Night Football; how to build an NFL media production from scratch; what worked and what needs to be improved on; viewer complaints; the technology they have inside and outside their production truck; whether things would have been different if the analyst was Troy Aikman as opposed to Kirk Herbstreit; viewership expectations; what production meetings are like with Michaels and Herbstreit; whether felt like being at the precipice of something revolutionary; and more. You can subscribe

Episode 240 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests. First up is a conversation with Boston Globe sports media writer Chad Finn and Deitsch on the first week of NFL broadcasting. In this podcast, we offer our thoughts on Joe Buck and Troy Aikman’s ESPN regular-season debut; Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen’s first game as Fox’s top NFL team; Ian Eagle and Charles Davis; Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, Greg Gumbel and Adam Archuleta and what we anticipate from Amazon’s first game. We also discuss Amazon viewership potential. That conversation is followed by Alex Flanagan, who is the senior vice president, partner, and agent for The Familie Sports Marketing and Talent Agency. Flanagan discusses her fascinating transition from working as a broadcaster for NBC, the NFL Network and ESPN to becoming a talent agent; how and why the transition happened; how she ended up joining The Familie agency; what her current job is; the challenge of building a talent base; representing Kimberley A.

Episode 239 of the Sports Media podcast features a conversation with Lindsay Jones, a senior editor for The Ringer where she helps lead their NFL coverage and and Jenny Vrentas, a sports reporter for The New York Times with a focus on enterprise and investigations. In this podcast, Jones and Vrentas discuss their respective roles; the challenges of reporting and writing challenging NFL stories; moving from The Athletic to the Ringer for Jones; whether NFL reporters will get increased access; Vrentas’s reporting on Deshaun Watson and how she worked on the story; being cynical about how NFL teams investigate and vet prospects; the climate of investigative reporting for NFL stories; the cognitive dissonance of doing  NFL content; why we think the Bills are rightful; Super Bowl favorites; expectations for Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers this season; Russell Wilson’s move to Denver; the fate of the New York-based NFL teams; why covering the Chargers, Bills, Chiefs and Browns would be interesting, and more. You can sub

Episode 238 of the Sports Media podcast features a conversation with Richie Zyontz and Rich Russo. Zyontz and Russo are the lead producer and director, respectively, for Fox’s top NFL team featuring Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. In this podcast, Zyontz and Russo discuss what an NFL game producer and director does each week; what it has been like for them to go from Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to Burkhardt and Olsen; how they found about the Buck and Aikman moves; how to create a working relationship with a new play by play voice and analyst; if broadcasting a Super Bowl makes it feel like a different working year; being in the unique place of having an analyst in waiting in Tom Brady; what their current relationship is like with Brady; traveling on the Madden Cruiser with John Madden; Zyontz’s favorite Madden story; the best NFL food cities; Zyontz’s new column highlighting members of his crew; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and

Episode 237 of the Sports Media podcast features a conversation with Michael Grady, who was recently announced as the new voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Bally Sports North, and Anish Shroff, who in March was named the radio play-by-play announcer for the Carolina Panthers NFL team. In this podcast Grady discusses how he landed the Timberwolves job; his six years with the YES Network in New York where his jobs included Brooklyn Nets' sideline reporter, pregame and postgame host and occasional play-by-play voice; what it’s like to replace a popular broadcaster; interviewing with Alex Rodriguez and other Timberwolves’ owners; being behind Ian Eagle and Ryan Ruocco in Brooklyn; the quality of Sarah Kustok as an analyst; how you prepare to call a new team; the prospects of the T-Wolves this season; what will happen with the Nets; the passing of his mother, Mavis, and more. Shroff discusses how he landed the Panthers job; the precedent set by other ESPN broadcasters who also call NFL games; the advantage of

Episode 236 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Leah Hextall, a play by play broadcaster for ESPN’s NHL coverage. Hextall was the first woman to call play by play for a nationally televised NHL game when she was part of Sportsnet’s first all-female broadcast team in March 2020. In this podcast, Hextall talks about the presentation she made in June titled “Not One Of The Boys” for an event held by The Coaches Site;” how when people ask her what her first full season calling games nationally was like, she tells them she survived; getting death threats; social media venom; being told she was hired only for her gender; the role of the bench reporter in hockey; leaving the business at age 37 to work for the premier of Manitoba; growing up in a famous hockey family; her goals for her second year at ESPN; her desire to call women’s hockey again, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy

Episode 235 of the Sports Media Podcast features a media roundtable with Chad Finn of The Boston Globe and Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. In this podcast,  Finn, Karp and Deitsch discuss first impressions of Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football broadcast; realistic expectations for Amazon’s game and studio broadcast; Amazon’s PR rollout; whether future realignment will increase interest in college football this season; Fox making its Urban Meyer hire official; the media impact of Serena Williams leaving tennis; the women’s college basketball title game moving to ABC; Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and former Golf Channel President Mike McCarley launching a sports media and technology company called TMRW Sports; whether Fox will cover with any weight human rights violations in Qatar re: the World Cup, and more You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Episode 234 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with David Law, Matt Roberts and Catherine Whitaker, the three hosts of The Tennis Podcast. In this podcast, Law, Roberts and Whitaker discuss how their podcast came to existence and the long grind to build an audience; having a global audience and how that impacts content; the impact of being profiled by the New York Times and being called ‘the conscience of the game;’ being represented  by Billie Jean’s company BJK Enterprises; the influence of the podcast on the sport; the impact of Catherine’s interview with Pam Shriver; their expectations of Serena Williams at this year’s U.S. Open; discussing the topics of the moment including Novak Djokovic not playing at the Open, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/ad

Episode 233 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, a senior correspondent for 60 Minutes and a senior analyst for The Tennis Channel, and Scott Price, who worked for 26 years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and wrote under the byline S.L. Price. Both Wertheim and Price covered Serena Williams for the duration of her career. In this podcast, Wertheim and Price discuss covering Serena Williams and the first time they interacted with her; Price’s cover story in the Sept. 20, 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated which chronicled Serena winning her first major and becoming the first African-American woman to win a major since Althea Gibson in 1958; the dynamic between Serena and the media who covered her; comparisons with her sister Venus; the subject of race and tennis; the evolution of Serena as a subject; being critical of Serena and what that meant; expectations for this year’s U.S. Open; what Serena might do in the future, and more.

Episode 232 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Stewart Mandel, a senior writer covering college football for The Athletic. In this podcast, Mandel and Deitsch discuss the Big Ten’s new media rights deal; whether the inventory is deep enough for an all-day linear airing of Big Ten football games; what networks did the best;  ESPN being out of Big Ten football; what it means for other conferences including the SEC; the future of the Pac-12’s media rights; the Big Ten going to market again before the SEC’s new contract with ESPN expires in 2034, and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 231 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Brian Gewirtz,  a senior vice president of development at Seven Bucks Productions, which is a production company co-founded by Dwayne Johnson and his producing partner, Dany Garcia. Gewirtz is the author of  the new book, “There’s Just One Problem: True Tales From The Former, One-Time Seventh Most Powerful Person In WWE.” In this podcast Gewirtz discusses his history working for the WWE as a writer from 1999 to 2015; the skills and temperament one needs to write for a professional wrestling company; the similarities between writing for a sitcom and for WWE; how one writes for someone who on face is so different than them; advice for getting a pro wrestling writing job; writing for The Rock and Kurt Angle; Vince McMahon’s departure from WWE over alleged sexual misconduct; how one should view McMahon today; why Gewirtz wanted to write this book and how he approached it; working on the original XFL product; whether what is happening with AEW's

Episode 230 of the Sports Media Podcast features Andscape senior NFL Writer Jason Reid. His new book is the “Rise of the Black Quarterback: What it means for America.” In this podcast, Reid discusses the black quarterbacks of the 1960s and 1970s in the AFL and NFL and what they experienced; the hate mail players such as James Harris had to deal with; the positional segregation regarding Black athletes when it came to the quarterback position; the anonymous scout quotes that exist today; the modern Black quarterbacks including Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray; the importance of Doug Williams and Randall Cunningham historically; the impact of  writing about Colin Kaepernick; whether young Black quarterbacks would up to play for HBCU’s and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://pod

Episode 229 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is Dr. Dani Gilbert, a Rosenwald Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, and an expert on U.S. hostage policy and diplomacy. She is followed by T,J, Quinn, an investigative reporter for ESPN who has reported on the Griner case for ESPN.  In this podcast, Dr. Gilbert discusses the leverage value for Russia in this process; what "wrongfully detained" means legally and how it relates to Griner; Russia as a bad actor on the world stage; the process of how this negotiation will work; how she viewed the initial silence from the Griner camp at the start of Griner's incarceration; how Griner’s sexuality and race plays a role in this case; who is specifically working on this case at the State Department; what you should do if you travel to a country like China or Russia; whether Griner will be treated more humanely given the high profile nature of

Episode 229 of the Sports Media Podcast features ESPN broadcaster and longtime World Series game-caller Joe Buck. In this podcast, Buck discusses the life and career of the legendary broadcaster Vin Scully, who passed away on Tuesday at age 94; the friendship between Scully and Jack Buck, the father of Joe Buck; Scully’s remarkable ability to call games solo; why Scully always felt relevant even as he aged; Scully’s connection to Los Angeles; the time when Tim McCarver told a national audience Scully was not at a ballpark he was at; Scully’s call of Hank Aaron passing Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax’s perfect game; why this feels like the end of a broadcasting era, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 228 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests.  First up is Yahoo Sports NFL writer Shalise Manza Young. She is followed by Boston Globe media writer and general columnist Chad Finn. In this podcast, Young discusses her excellent piece on independent arbitrator Sue L. Robinson’s decision on Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson; why the decision seems wholly inconsistent with Robinson’s own findings; the narrow definition of "violent" as defined in the decision; Manza Young’s argument that the decision “underscores to many of us, once again, how some people, even other women, perceive women as disposable, especially if they’re Black or brown or work in the service industry”; Watson being cheered at Browns camp; the NFL’s decision on the discipline imposed to the Dolphins for violations of NFL policies relating to the integrity of the game, and more. Finn and Deitsch discusses the coverage Bill Russell’s passing; the powerful words of Karen Russell, Bill’s daughter; Charles Barkley’s flirtation with

Episode 227 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is Ian Darke, a football commentator for ESPN in America and for BT Sport in UK. Last week Fox Sports announced that Darke will be part of the network’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year. He is followed by Roberto Andrade Franco, a feature writer for ESPN and the author of one of the best pieces of sports writing in 2022. Franco recently wrote “The All-Star dreams of Uvalde's biggest José Altuve fan,” a piece for ESPN on the life of Tess Marie Mata, one of the 19 students killed in the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Franco is followed by Julie Kliegman, a writer and copy chief for Sports Illustrated. She recently wrote a piece on Sarah Fuller's journey from kicker for Vanderbilt to mental health advocate and is working on a book about how athletes navigate mental health.  In this podcast, Darke discusses how Fox was able to use him for this year’s World Cup; when he anticipates learning w

Episode 226 features Conrad Thompson, the preeminent wrestling podcast host in the United States and the promoter of  “Ric Flair's Last Match" which features 11 matches from promotions across the globe that will air July 31on PPV and FITE.TV from The Fairgrounds in Nashville, TN. In this podcast, Thompson discusses how he came to put together the promotion for the 73-year-old Flair, his father-in-law; creating the wrestling convention Starrcast V which will emanate from Nashville from July 29 to 31; how pro wrestling talent gets booked for events; what Flair’s doctors have said about a 73-year-old being part of a wrestling show; blurring the lines on his podcast network to promote this event; how he views McMahon stepping down from his job as the company’s board investigates allegations of misconduct against him; WWE revising financial statements to reflect hush-money payments; his relationship with AEW head Tony Khan; his relationship with the people who have worked for McMahon including Bruce Prichard, his

Episode 225 features The Athletic writers Katie Strang, Dan Robson, and Ian Mendes. The three co-authored a recent piece on allegations of sexual assault and a reckoning for Hockey Canada. In this podcast, Strang, Robson, and Mendes discuss how the reporting came together for the piece and the steps reporters take to report on this subject; what we know and don’t know about the two alleged sexual-assault incidents involving Hockey Canada; whether adults enabling a rampant culture; the media's role; what happens when you contact lawyers representing players;  the impact and importance of sponsors speaking up; police in Halifax opening an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving members of Hockey Canada's 2003 national junior team; the hearings before the Parliament of Canada; what will happen to Hockey Canada heading forward, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://