Netflix has announced a new series which will premier this summer called, ‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.’ In a release, Netflix said the series follows the 2023-24 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad from start to finish — kicking off at auditions and training camp and continuing all the way through the NFL season.

The seven-episode series, directed by Emmy Award-winning director Greg Whiteley, will give viewers unfiltered access into the iconic team and franchise that is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Led by longtime director Kelli Finglass, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders open their doors to document the personal stories behind the uniforms – revealing the drive, hustle, and drama among the cheerleaders and coaches.

Each episode is expected to last 45 minutes.

“The kind of access and creative freedom we need to make the kind of work we want to make is not easy to come by—especially when dealing with a brand as large as the Dallas Cowboys,” said Greg Whiteley, director and executive producer. “To their infinite credit, the Cowboys offered unfettered access for the year we filmed the DCC and left us alone. The result is an authentic portrait of one of the most storied and beloved institutions we have in American pop culture.”

“We’re thrilled to see the results of a season spent with Greg Whiteley and a remarkable crew following every step of the way. The storytelling through this open access will captivate viewers episode after episode and Netflix’s global stage is the perfect platform to showcase it,” said Charlotte Jones, Dallas Cowboys Executive Vice President/Chief Brand Officer and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders President. “We went into this understanding that the opportunity to transparently share the journey of our season, and the emotions, challenges and joy experienced along the way, is exactly what our fans and viewers would want. It’s also part of the reason that, for decades, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have earned their place as being ‘often imitated, but never equaled’.”

For the last two years, Mike Francesa has been working with BetRivers as a brand ambassador and host of his eponymous podcast, The Mike Francesa Podcast, which is available across podcasting distribution platforms. Rush Street Interactive has announced that it has reached a renewal of its exclusive, multi-year agreement with Francesa, extending their partnership and continuing the show.

The renewed partnership will ensure that Francesa continues serving exclusively to BetRivers in providing both network and social media content. Additionally, he will now host a daily program on The Mike Francesa Podcast YouTube channel where he will give his opinions, insights and analysis on news and react to games. Francesa is also going to be producing digital videos that will be featured on the BetRivers platform meant to enhance the sports betting experience for consumers around the country. Part of the role will also have him meet and greet BetRivers customers through personal appearances in east coast markets.

“I’m thrilled to continue my partnership with BetRivers, which in my opinion offers the best online sportsbook in the industry,” Francesa said in a statement. “Joining forces with the RSI team enables me to connect with fans in exciting and easily accessible ways, while providing my insight and instant reaction to the biggest games to audiences not only in New York but across BetRivers markets nationwide.”

Francesa, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018, previously served as a co-host of Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN before hosting solo on the station. During his time on the air, he garnered multiple Marconi Award wins as major market personality of the year and frequently finished at the top of the New York ratings books. Before his work on WFAN, he was an analyst at CBS Sports for its coverage of football and college basketball. Since joining BetRivers, Francesa has hosted his podcast two times a week and also created digital videos across BetRivers platforms.

“We are delighted to have Mike Francesa, the undisputed ‘King of New York’ radio, renew his partnership with our BetRivers family of Brand Ambassadors,” Richard Schwartz, chief executive officer of Rush Street Interactive, said in a statement. “Our BetRivers audience will now be able to see and hear Mike every weekday! Our customers tell us that his passion for sports, along with the stories Mike shares from when he worked with Jimmy the Greek, add a new level of fun to their betting experiences, further solidifying RSI’s dedication to providing top tier sportsbook entertainment.”

The New York Yankees announced on Monday afternoon that longtime radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling is retiring effective immediately, ending his 36-year tenure calling games for the club. Sterling is widely regarded as having left an indelible legacy on Major League Baseball, coming on the air with his sonorous tenor and creative home run calls. Dan Le Batard took time out of the Tuesday edition of his program – The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – to honor Sterling and his six-decade career working in sports media, explaining to his audience why Sterling is of such grandeur and significance within the sport.

Le Batard emphasized that Sterling is not retiring because of his health; rather, he is simply tired and does not wish to handle the heavy workload associated with the 162-game slate. Sterling leaves amid a season where the Yankees lead MLB in wins, albeit early in the 2024 regular-season campaign, and are projected to be competing for a World Series championships. Sterling was behind the microphone for six Yankees World Series championships and called 5,060 consecutive games, including every at bat in Derek Jeter’s Hall of Fame career.

“The baseball schedule is an insanity, and John Sterling is a bonafide legend when you broadcast that long, but it’s not in the perfectly pristine broadcasting case where Vin Scully exists,” Le Batard said. “From a bygone age – Ernie Harwell, old-time broadcaster who raises your dad, your grandad and you on baseball on the radio when America; when people wore top hats to the game and suits because baseball is our most historic sport – Vin Scully dies, and he takes that with him. John Sterling retires at the beginning of a Yankees season when they’re in first place.”

Within his remarks, Le Batard conveyed that Sterling should be celebrated as a legend who was broadcasting “for a time, a place and a team.” After the show played several of his broadcasting highlights and mistakes from over the years in addition to a clip of him being struck by a foul ball while on the air, Le Batard began to outline the changing times within the sports media industry by asking a question to his colleagues.

“Do you think the TikTok generation is going to have any understanding of a radio broadcaster mattering to a region on behalf of a team?,” Le Batard said. “This ends with this crop of broadcasters, right, where somebody is handed down – that the sport is handed down to you as a child from a parent or grandparent who was also listening to this person locally in the car as you grew up. That dies with this crop of broadcasters, right?”

As Le Batard explained his point, he underscored that he is not trying to insinuate that Sterling was the last broadcaster considered among the generation who can have that kind of an impact. Instead, he believes that there is never going to be anything like radio broadcasters in Major League Baseball because of the specific connection that has been created and maintained through radio across generations. Verne Lundquist, he stated, received a nice sendoff from The Masters over the weekend, something that most broadcasters will not get. Yet he understands that when you say the names of John Sterling or Verne Lundquist, it means something to the audience.

Jon “Stugotz” Weiner stated that Bob Uecker is still on the air for the Milwaukee Brewers, but Le Batard seems not to believe that people are going to be listening to games on the radio going forward. As a result of the multifarious content ecosystem through which sports are consumed, Le Batard is not sure if radio broadcasters will resonate with the next generation as they had in the preceding years.

“[John Sterling] is somebody who has existed in the traveling circus of the baseball economy going from place to place to broadcast on radio something to people back home who cannot see it,” Le Batard said. “That voice gets ingrained in a region, a people, gets passed down to families, and what I’m asking you is does it die now because it’s a very specific thing.”