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Bruce Arians Interested in Working in Television

Brandon Contes

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On January 1st Bruce Arians retired from coaching following five seasons with the Cardinals. The two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year doesn’t plan on coaching again at the age of 65 and is entertaining the idea of joining television.

Recently, Arians was asked about the idea of joining the Monday Night Football booth. Recognizing he would be a longshot for the coveted job opening, Arians admitted it’s an attractive position.

“Oh gosh, I’d be interested,” Arians told Josh Weinfuss, Arizona Cardinals writer for ESPN. “I don’t think they’re interested in me. But that would be like the dream job, especially working with someone as good as Sean [McDonough]. That’d be fun. That’s obviously a home run.”

After being fired as head football coach of Temple University in 1988, Arians provided TV color analysis during the first Pennsylvania high school championships with Philadelphia announcer Al Meltzer.

“I loved it,” Arians told Weinfuss regarding his brief tenure on television. “I went down and moms are crying, and I’m interviewing the moms on the field. I said, ‘You guys get paid to do this s—? This is fun.’ It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

Steve Young, Rex Ryan and Peyton Manning have been a few of the names mentioned to fill Jon Gruden’s chair on the Monday Night Football broadcast.  Though it appear ESPN might have a favorite in Matt Hasselbeck with the network announcing Hasselbeck would work with McDonough during the Pro Bowl on January 28th. Hasselbeck spent the last two seasons on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown and worked a game for Fox while he was still an active player in 2014.

Arians has not yet discussed the position with ESPN, but has spoken with Fox and the NFL Network. The former coach also has a meeting lined up with CBS in February and a second interview with Fox this week.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here

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Final ‘Good Morning Football’ Episode from New York Studio Airs Before Hiatus, Move to LA

After today, ‘Good Morning Football’ will take a brief hiatus, then move to LA. But outside of host Jamie Erdahl, who else will join the show on the West Coast?

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Good Morning Football

Today marks the last Good Morning Football episode to air from its New York studios on NFL Network. After today, the show will take a brief hiatus, then move across the country to Los Angeles. But which of the shows beloved cast members will move along with it?

We already know host Jamie Erdahl will be there once she gives birth to her child. The newest GMFB show member gave an emotional send-off to the show’s New York studios before announcing she was headed for maternity leave and would see everyone in LA.

Host Kyle Brandt delivered this message late last night, saying that viewers should tune in to he and his colleagues and that “he has a lot to say.”

Earlier this week, however, host Peter Schrager delivered his own goodbye message — one that may sound like a man who’s not ready to move his family across the country at a moment’s notice:

However, no hosts outside of Erdahl have given confirmation that they’re either staying or going.

The NFL’s move to take the show from New York to Los Angeles has been widely criticized by fans and media members alike. Bill Simmons wondered if the move wouldn’t spell just the end of GMFB but the NFL Network as a whole. It has some wondering if this is the end of football’s best show.

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ESPN Coverage of Men’s NIT Tournament Quarterfinals Up 33% vs. 2023

Viewership of the Men’s NIT Quarterfinals on ESPN were up 33 percent compared to last year and featured two games that averaged over one million viewers.

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Even the NIT is riding the recent hot streak of live sports viewership numbers. According to data provided by ESPN, the 2024 NIT Quarterfinals are up 33 percent compared to last year’s tournament. Perhaps more surprisingly, two NIT quarterfinal games topped one million viewers.

The network’s Georgia/Ohio State matchup averaged 1.03 million viewers, while the Cincinnati/Indiana State contest averaged 1.02 million viewers. These two games were the most-watched NIT games since 2017 — including title games. Both Georgia and Ohio State have rabid fanbases, while many thought Indiana State was unjustly left out of the March Madness tournament, which could be a reason why viewers tuned in.

Much of the focus this season has been on the women’s game, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks, led by Dawn Staley. ESPN just had its most-watched women’s college basketball season since 2008-09 because of the increased interest in the women’s game. The men’s game, however, hasn’t been heralded as much this season for whatever reason, mostly because numbers seem to be holding steady compared to previous years. However, if the NIT is posting viewership wins, that should bode well for the NCAA Tournament’s incoming viewership totals.

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Report: NFL to Put Christmas Day Doubleheader Up For Bids

Bidding is expected to start at $50 million among the current NFL media partners but some think the games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

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The NFL will reportedly put its Christmas Day games up for auction, allowing its current media partners to bid for the games. Now, it’s up to CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video to pay up for rights to one of these two marquee games.

According to Front Office Sports Michael McCarthy, preference will be given to linear networks, so Prime Video and Peacock may sit this one out. Bidding is expected to start at $50 million but McCarthy and his sources expect that number to rise. John Kosner, the former ESPN executive, thinks the new Christmas Day games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

The NFL announced a Wednesday Christmas Day doubleheader during its annual league meetings. The league originally said it wouldn’t force games on Christmas Day if the holiday fell on an odd day of the week, though as the NFL continues to put games on days outside of Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, we’re running out of days that don’t feature NFL football.

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