Back in June, Hockey Hall-of-Famer Chris Chelios was let go by ESPN as part of their talent cuts. He was part of the network’s NHL coverage for the past two years. Even though Chelios will be back in the studio this year as an analyst for NBC SportsChicago’s Blackhawks coverage, it was a move that definitely surprised him.

“I really enjoyed it. I was kind of surprised I didn’t get asked back, but it was a good experience and maybe it will open up some doors in Chicago for me,” he said this week on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “I really did enjoy the time I had with them for that two years. I got more and more comfortable as we went on. You hate getting traded, you hate getting fired. I didn’t like it too much that I was released.”

If there was one thing that Chelios found tough about the position, it was being critical of the players. He  felt that he was in the studio with Mark Messier and Steve Levy or calling a game that he was fair with criticism and no criticism ever got personal with any player.

“For me, it was real tough to be critical on players, but I like to think I just call it like I see it. If a guy has a bad game, he has a bad game. It never got personal with me with any of the players.”

At the same time, Chelios enjoyed the ESPN experience because it allowed him to keep his name out there in the NHL world and be around some great people.

“I loved working with Messier and Levy and those guys. It was a way to stay relevant, not to me that was real important, but it was great being around the guys again.”

In addition to getting to do some analyst work for Blackhawks coverage this year Chelios will also have his jersey retired by the team on February 25 when Chicago takes on one of his former teams, the Detroit Red Wings. 

Deion Sanders is clearly worth way more to Colorado University than the $29.5 million the school will pay him over the next five years. Through his first three games, Coach Prime has turned Boulder, Colorado, which last year was home to one of the worst Power 5 college football teams of all-time, into the center of the sports universe.

The school has commissioned a study to better-understand Deion’s impact. University spokesperson Steve Hurlbert said that the school believes the exposure Sanders has provided is worth north of $90 million to the school.

That number is measured in ticket and merchandise sales as well as the advertising value of the time ESPN, FOX, CBS and others have spent either talking about the football team and its coach or broadcasting its games.

“I’m so happy for our students, alumni and fans who have all been savoring this incredible experience,” Chancellor Phil DiStefano said in a statement. “Most of all, I’m immensely proud of our coaches and student-athletes, who have demonstrated incredible poise amidst all of this attention and whose hard work is the reason we’re enjoying such a successful start to the season.” 

Hurlburt noted that the school issued 848 media credentials for the Buffaloes’ home opener against Nebraska. He expects that number to be dwarfed by the amount that will be issued for their game against USC next week.

Every Colorado has sold out, but the bigger impact of the media exposure can be seen in alumni donations according to The Daily Camera. The paper notes that donors gave over $2 million more to the school in fiscal year 2023 than they did the previous fiscal year.

After news broke that WWE’s SmackDown on Friday nights would be returning to USA Network next year, FOX seems poised to fill the void in that time slot with college sports.

The writing appeared to be on the wall for FOX earlier this year that WWE would be seeking a new partner for SmackDown. FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in the spring that the network hadn’t engaged in rights talks with WWE. But that was at a time when WWE was in the middle of working on its recently completed merger with Endeavor.

Big Ten football and Big East basketball look to be the products that FOX will put on its airwaves in primetime on Fridays.

Given the way things currently work, with WWE on the big network on Friday nights, any college football or basketball scheduled would air on either FS1 or FS2. That will change starting October 2024.