Sports Media

Conference leaders continue to make progress on a plan to expand the college football playoff from four to 12 teams.

ESPN, College Football Playoff agree to $7.8 billion deal

The deal will give the network exclusive rights to the expanded postseason through the 2031 season, with the national championship game moving to ABC starting in 2026.

By Associated Press

Sports Media

Sports Illustrated will continue operations after owner reaches deal with new publisher

What this means for the writers and others who produce Sports Illustrated remains to be seen.

By Associated Press

Sports Media

Bulls TV analyst Stacey King fooled on air by X post claiming Derrick Rose retired

King fell for a fake Adrian Wojnarowski account on the site formerly known as Twitter during the Wizards-Bulls game Saturday night. The mistake was King’s alone, and he apologized to the crew afterward. NBCSCH also addressed the matter.

By Jeff Agrest

Stephen Bardo (right) and Brandon Gaudin

Sports Media

Stephen Bardo had head start in broadcasting, thanks to his family

He’ll be BTN’s analyst alongside Kevin Kugler for the first two quarterfinal games of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, including Northwestern’s game against Wisconsin.

By Jeff Agrest

College Sports

DePaul great Dave Corzine has seen enough of an all-time-'sad' Blue Demons season

The radio analyst feels most of all for the players, who are staring at an unthinkable 0-20 record in the Big East.

By Steve Greenberg

Sports Media

Caitlin Clark — and her fans — will put WNBA in prime position for its next media deal

Clark’s rookie season could result in record viewership, putting the league in its best position ever to negotiate a new rights deal. Its current one expires after the 2025 season.

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

Big Ten among football leagues Fox will feature on Friday night broadcasts

The schedule of games, which will also include matchups from the Big 12 and Mountain West conferences, likely won’t be announced until late May or early June.

By Associated Press

Sports Media

CW26 will simulcast Marquee's broadcast of Cubs game March 12

Marquee will use the game as a promotional tool, and Weigel will make it known that it’s available to air local teams’ games.

By Jeff Agrest

Obituaries

Chris Mortensen, ESPN's award-winning NFL reporter, dies at 72

Mortensen announced in 2016 that he he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

By Associated Press

Screenshot 2024-03-02 at 12.40.59 PM.png

Sports Media

Bears reporter Courtney Cronin explains herself for dropping F-bomb on ESPN 1000 morning show

“I had a moment of frustration with the audio issue we were having,” Cronin told the Sun-Times on Saturday, “and I said something I shouldn’t have said, not realizing I had a live mic.”

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

ESPN-Fox-Warner Bros. Discovery sports streamer has big names, small return

Missing from this newfangled bundle are CBS and NBC, which have pretty good menus of sports programming. None of the league networks are included, either.

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

Christopher Kamka is White Sox TV's loss, Cubs TV's gain

Kamka is known for unearthing nuggets of information. The rest of NBC Sports Chicago’s Sox production crew is back, led by producer Chris Withers.

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

New White Sox TV voice John Schriffen is ready for inevitable scrutiny

Schriffen will make his debut Friday, when he’ll call the Sox’ spring-training opener against the Cubs in Mesa, Arizona, on NBC Sports Chicago.

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

MLB Network special delves deep into Game 7 of 2016 World Series with managers

Former skippers Joe Maddon and Terry Francona rewatched the game with open mics at the network’s studio. Neither had watched it since that night in Cleveland. Bob Costas and Tom Verducci co-host the show.

By Jeff Agrest

Sports Media

Super Bowl thriller was most-watched program ever, averaging 123.4 million viewers

That shattered last year’s mark of 115.1 million for Kansas City’s last-play victory over Philadelphia and is a 7% increase.

By Associated Press

Rob Gronkowski (left) and Tom Brady, who share their Patriots memories on "The Dynasty," celebrate after winning the AFC Championship Game in 2017.

Sports Saturday

Tom Brady, teammates open up for 'The Dynasty,' a fascinating video history of the Patriots

Apple TV+ docuseries goes deep on Super Bowl victories as well as Spygate, Deflategate and Aaron Hernandez.

By Richard Roeper

Sports Media

ESPN’s segment on Bears Hall of Famer Steve McMichael leaves studio cast choked up

“Postseason NFL Countdown” aired a 10-minute segment on McMichael and his quest for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame while battling ALS.

By Jeff Agrest

Broadcaster Brent Musburger stands outside the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982.

Sports Media

CBS special celebrates ‘The NFL Today,’ which has deep Chicago ties

The show, first hosted by Brent Musburger in 1975, became an institution in sports broadcasting. At noon Sunday, CBS will air the one-hour special “You Are Looking Live,” which tells the show’s story.

By Jeff Agrest

A general view of Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.

White Sox

White Sox spring broadcast schedule includes six televised games, 10 on radio

New play-by-play announcer John Schriffen will call all six TV games.

By Daryl Van Schouwen

Sports Media

ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery team up for new sports streaming platform

The three companies will each share one-third ownership in the joint venture. A name for the service and pricing will be announced at a later date.

By Joe Reedy | Associated Press

Carl Weathers attends the “Mandalorian” special launch event in Hollywood, California, in 2023. The actor, perhaps best-known for his role as Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” film franchise died today at 76.

Movies and TV

Carl Weathers, star of ‘Rocky’ films and ‘The Mandalorian,’ dies at 76

His family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his sleep.”

By Associated Press

Sports Media

Which Tony Romo will we hear on CBS’ Super Bowl broadcast?

Romo was expected to be the next great NFL analyst. But he has had some embarrassing moments recently that should worry CBS.

By Jeff Agrest

A general view of Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona.

Sports Media

Marquee Sports Network will broadcast majority of Cubs spring-training games remotely

The lead tandem of Jon Sciambi and Jim Deshaies will be in Arizona for the first weekend of games at the end of this month. Most of the remaining games will be called remotely.

By Jeff Agrest

Taylor Swift wears a Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce jacket.

NFL

NFL media monster continues its worldwide takeover

It’s literally become inescapable. It’s intentional. It’s genius. It’s how the NFL reclaimed America and how it reestablished itself as this country’s second religion.

By Scoop Jackson

Sports Media

White Sox hire ESPN’s John Schriffen as new TV voice

The Sox gave Schriffen a multiyear deal to be their play-by-play voice alongside analyst Steve Stone. Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black TV play-by-play announcer in MLB, joining the Mariners’ Dave Sims.

By Jeff Agrest

Eddie Olczyk and son Nick are part of the Kraken’s broadcast team. They both called the Winter Classic, which the Kraken hosted at T-Mobile Park, Eddie for TNT and Nick for Sports USA Radio.

Sports Media

Eddie Olczyk enjoying family reunion in Seattle, where he lives with son Nick

Eddie will host some familiar faces Wednesday night, when the Blackhawks visit the Kraken. Eddie will call the game on TNT with current Hawks analyst Darren Pang and play-by-play partner Kenny Albert.

By Jeff Agrest

A view of the ESPN Monday Night Countdown booth before the Jaguars-Bengals game in December.

Bears

An NFL-ESPN equity deal would rub out the blurry line between church and state

How soon before the network caved in (more) to league commissioner Roger Goodell?

By Rick Morrissey

Jason Benetti left the White Sox’ TV booth for the Tigers’ in November. He had a year left on his contract.

Sports Media

White Sox TV job is a great gig, but there’s a catch

Finalists Will Flemming, Connor McKnight and John Schriffen should be well aware of what led to Jason Benetti’s exit.

By Jeff Agrest

White Sox

White Sox TV job down to three: Will Flemming, Connor McKnight & John Schriffen

Mike Monaco, who initially was a favorite for the job, removed himself from consideration this week because of scheduling conflicts with ESPN.

By Jeff Agrest

A Sports Illustrated cover featuring Michael Jordan.

Sports Media

Sports Illustrated to lay off most staff, putting publication’s fate in limbo

In an email to employees Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that Authentic Brands Group has revoked its marketing license.

By Joe Reedy | Associated Press and David Bauder | Associated Press