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Kayte Christensen-Hunter Joins Sacramento Kings TV Booth

“Christensen-Hunter served as a color analyst for the Phoenix Mercury and women’s college basketball on ESPN before joining Sacramento broadcasts.”

Russ Heltman

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Courtesy: Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings have named Kayte Christensen-Hunter their new television game analyst. The former WNBA player has spent 11 seasons broadcasting with the Kings as a TV studio analyst for pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. She also fulfilled sideline reporting duties.

Christensen-Hunter will join play-by-play voices Mark Jones and Kyle Draper in the NBC Sports California booth this season.

“Kayte has proven herself time and time again throughout her eleven years covering the Kings,” Sacramento Kings Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé said in a press release. “With extensive experience as a player and broadcaster, she will bring a deep passion for and knowledge of the game to the telecasts this season.”

Christensen-Hunter served as a color analyst for the Phoenix Mercury and women’s college basketball on ESPN before joining Sacramento broadcasts.

“To say this is a dream come true is an understatement,” Christensen-Hunter said. “The Kings gave me my first big break in this business 15 years ago and since then these wonderful fans and city have embraced me, welcomed me in, and made Sacramento home. This fan base is truly unmatched. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of the great Jerry Reynolds and Doug Christie. I’m also so proud to be able to show my 3-year-old daughter and so many other young women that we have a place in the NBA.”

Kayte Christensen-Hunter already made history this past March when she was a key cog in the Kings and NBC Sports California’s first-ever exclusively women and non-binary announcing and coverage team.

“Kayte is a tremendously talented and experienced basketball analyst and television professional,” NBC Sports California senior vice president and general manager Matt Murphy said. “She has developed immense knowledge of the game and the Kings organization over her remarkable career as a player and media member. We are very excited to have her contribute her talent and knowledge to our live-game coverage of the Kings this season.”

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CBS Sports Shares Details of Spongebob-Themed NFL Broadcasts

Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson return to the booth for both games alongside Dylan Schefter and Young Dylan.

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Super Bowl LVIII CBS Nickelodeon

Get ready for some Turtles on Christmas and some SpongeBob on Super Bowl Sunday. CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are teaming up to deliver two alternate NFL broadcasts this year — one for the Monday night “Nickmas” game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, and then a second, SpongeBob Squarepants-themed broadcast for Super Bowl LVIII.

Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson return to the booth for both games alongside Dylan Schefter and Young Dylan. The live-action hosts will be joined by two groups of Nicktoons depending on the game.

SpongeBob and Patrick (voiced by Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, respectively) will join Eagle and Burleson in the booth for Super Bowl LVIII, while Sandy and Larry the Lobster will provide some additional flair from the sidelines. The Bikini Bottom crew will be joined by Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey, who will explain penalties to the younger viewers. During the “Nickmas” Game on Dec. 25, the crew will be joined by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s Raphael in the booth, while Donatello will join Schefter on the sidelines.

The Christmas Day game will be Nickelodeon’s first regular-season game, as previous Nick alternate broadcasts were all during Wild Card Weekend. Last year, Nick aired an alternate broadcast of Cowboys/49ers, which drew an audience of 41 million viewers. The games have also become a social media phenomenon from adult viewers watching tongue-in-cheek.

The Nickelodeon Super Bowl telecast and Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas Game are produced by CBS Sports in association with Nickelodeon Productions.

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Pat McAfee Calls Out Roger Goodell For Not Appearing on His Show

“Hey Rog? Don’t be scared, Rog. Put your big boy pants on. It’ll be good, Rog.”

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Pat McAfee

Pat McAfee still wants a “white whale” guest on his show — and it’s becoming harder and harder for that guest to resist an interview feasibly.

On today’s The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee mentioned that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will appear on the program on the Dec. 6 episode, crediting ESPN for making it possible. McAfee then rifles off other commissioners that have appeared on his show, including NHL commish Gary Bettman and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, and mentions that MLS commissioner Don Garber was interested in coming on the show.

Notably, three of these four leagues mentioned currently maintain a broadcasting relationship with ESPN, with the fourth (MLS) previously having one before leaving for the bosom of Apple TV+.

One league partner’s commissioner who hasn’t appeared is Roger Goodell, the NFL’s controversial commish who rarely makes media appearances outside of the NFL sphere. McAfee has long desired an interview with Goodell and called out to the commissioner personally to come on — as only he can.

“Hey Rog? Don’t be scared, Rog,” McAfee said. “Put your big boy pants on. It’ll be good, Rog.”

Among the crew egging Goodell on was New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who was in the studio with McAfee and gang. The QB hasn’t been one to mince words lately and seemed more than willing to join in on the Goodell teasing to bring him on his friend’s show.

Should the crew plus Rodgers be together to speak with Goodell, it could create an interesting dichotomy for Goodell. One outspoken current player and potentially multiple former players (McAfee, along with former Colts teammate Darius Butler and Rodgers’ former Packers teammate A.J. Hawk) would provide a unique interview experience for Goodell, who is used to very controlled, one-on-one interviews with more muted individuals on the other side.

For the record, McAfee and company also pointed out that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred hasn’t appeared either, but the guys don’t seem too torn up about it.

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NBC Won’t Broadcast XFL/USFL After Merger

“We wish them success with the new league and their new partners.”

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NBC Sports broadcasted USFL games in its first two seasons since its resurrection, but that won’t continue in 2024.

As the two leagues prepare to merge, the new season won’t begin until March 30th. Due to pre-existing contracts for PGA Tour and other golf events, the network wasn’t able to commit to broadcasting the spring football league.

“We enjoyed our relationship with the USFL and Fox, but the new earlier schedule made it impossible for us to continue,” NBC Sports Executive Vice President of Communications Greg Hughes told Sports Business Journal. “We wish them success with the new league and their new partners.”

With the departure of NBC Sports, ESPN and FOX Sports will be the two television partners for the league.

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