Sports TV News

Dave Portnoy, Big Cat Join Showtime For Jake Paul Fight

“Barstool Sports is sponsoring the fight, and as part of the deal, Portnoy and Big Cat are involved in the pre-fight weigh-in and will give betting analysis during the card.”

Published

12 months ago

August 20, 2021

Russ Heltman

Courtesy: Barstool Sports

Get ready for a dose of Dave Portnoy and Dan “Big Cat” Katz on the upcoming Jake Paul fight airing Aug. 29 on Showtime. Paul is matching up with former UFC champion Tyron Woodley for his fourth professional fight.

Barstool Sports is sponsoring the fight, and as part of the deal, Portnoy and Big Cat are involved in the pre-fight weigh-in and will give betting analysis during the card.

“Having seen how sports betting has been integrated across Jake’s events and more broadly combat sports, there was an opportunity to do something different, innovative, and more integrated,” said Nakisa Bidarian, BAVAFA Sports CEO and Paul’s adviser.

The rest of the broadcast crew is made up of Paul’s brother, Logan, as a guest commentator and Brian Custer as the host. Boxing broadcast veterans Mauro Ranallo and Al Bernstein are calling the fights on the $60 pay-per-view. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani is handling the post-fight interviews.

Bidarian is very confident in the Barstool partnership despite pushback from critics of the company.

“I don’t view it at all as a reputational risk,” Bidarian said. “I view it as being innovative and ahead of the curve.”

The site has gone from a newspaper written entirely by Portnoy to one of the biggest sport media companies in the country. They recently topped Tubular Lab’s rankings of the most popular sports media sites with 51 million unique viewers in June 2021. That blew their nearest competitor, the WWE, out of the water by 10 million unique viewers.

This deal marks another push by the company to attach itself to large sporting events. Reports surfaced in recent weeks that they discussed carrying MLB’s midweek games on their platform. Plus, they struck a deal as the title sponsor and exclusive distributor of the Arizona Bowl starting this season.

Russ Heltman

Russ Heltman is a daily news writer for BSM. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. He also works in gameday communications for FC Cincinnati and additionally contributes to the AllBengals blog for Sports Illustrated. Russ can be found on Twitter @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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After Losing Out On Big Ten Rights, ESPN Turns Focus to NCAA Championships

According to Front Office Sports, ESPN’s contract for 29 NCAA Championships ends in 2024.

Published

4 hours ago

August 9, 2022

BSM Staff

After reportedly losing out on the Big Ten’s television rights, ESPN is reportedly turning to securing the NCAA Championship rights from hitting the open market.

According to Front Office Sports, ESPN’s contract for 29 NCAA Championships ends in 2024. Those 29 championships include everything from Women’s basketball to ice hockey, wrestling, softball, and baseball. The network pays a reported $34 million for the rights to broadcast those championship events.

However, according to a study commissioned by the NCAA reveals that the women’s basketball tournament could be worth anywhere from $81 million to $112 million per year by its lonesome. The NCAA is reportedly considering selling the women’s basketball tournament rights as a standalone product in the next negotiation.

Sources told Front Office Sports ESPN remains interested in striking deals with the Pac-12 and Big 12 media rights, as well as renewing a deal for the College Football Playoff.

The news comes after Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported ESPN declined a final offer from the Big Ten for a portion of the conference’s media rights. The reported deal was seven years and $380 million per year.

BSM Staff

Sports TV News

ESPN Announces The Return of Stephen A. Smith to First Take

ESPN announced Smith will be returning to First Take on Monday, August 15th.

Published

4 hours ago

August 9, 2022

BSM Staff

First Take has been without it’s anchor since the day after the NBA Draft in June. That’s when the ESPN personality took some time off to undergo shoulder surgery and to rehabilitate. However, it appears the wait for his return is almost over.

ESPN announced with a tweet that Smith will be returning to First Take on Monday, August 15th. They also teased a guest appearance from Michael Irvin.

Monday, @stephenasmith returns to @FirstTake!

Don't miss a special, surprise-filled episode along with a guest appearance by #NFL Hall of Famer @michaelirvin88

10a ET | ESPN pic.twitter.com/8NchgPZ7sl
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 9, 2022

This comes a day after Smith tweeted that the countdown was on for his return and we are one week away from the event.

One week away from returning to @FirstTake…….and counting!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 8, 2022

BSM Staff

Sports TV News

Field Yates Re-Ups With ESPN

After the departure of Matthew Berry to NBC, ESPN has locked down fantasy expert Field Yates with a new contract to remain in Bristol.

Published

5 hours ago

August 9, 2022

BSM Staff

After the departure of Matthew Berry to NBC, ESPN has locked down fantasy expert Field Yates with a new contract to remain in Bristol.

Yates, 35, would have been a valuable target for FanDuel or DraftKings, surmises Andrew Marchand of The New York Post — who first reported the news — due to his large following on Twitter.

Yates, who also works as a host of Fantasy Football Now and NFL Insider for the network, across multiple platforms including ESPN Radio, will continue in those roles in addition to an assumed expansion of fantasy football duties after Berry’s exit.

He has worked for ESPN since 2012.

BSM Staff