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ESPN Unveils New Sunday Night Baseball Strategy For TV, Radio

“Cone will team up with Karl Ravech, who becomes just the fourth-ever Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play voice, as well as Eduardo Perez, to form the new Sunday Night Baseball broadcast booth.”

Will Dundon

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ESPN announced its new coverage strategy for Sunday Night Baseball.  They have reached a multi-year agreement with five-time World Series Champion and former Cy Young Award winner David Cone. Cone will team up with Karl Ravech, who becomes just the fourth-ever Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play voice, as well as Eduardo Perez, to form the new Sunday Night Baseball broadcast booth.  The deals for Ravech and Perez are part of tong-term contract extensions with the network.  They along with Cone will call ESPN’s 25 Sunday Night Baseball telecasts as well as other exclusive games during the season, including MLB Opening Night.

ESPN also confirmed Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay would be hosting a special presentation of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN2: Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod

The eight Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod presentations on ESPN2 will coincide with ESPN’s highest-profile rivalry games, including the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox. In addition to discussion and analysis, the telecasts will integrate fantasy baseball, predictive analytics and special guests tied to the game.

“As we begin our next chapter of baseball coverage, we aim to maximize the value of this new rights agreement by prioritizing innovation and compelling storytelling, Norby Williamson, ESPN Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, said in a press release. “We welcome David Cone to ESPN and believe he and Eduardo Perez will offer a master class in contemporary analysis, including Statcast-driven data and discussion. Karl Ravech, who has been our ‘Mr. Baseball’ for three decades, will lead the booth with the command and credibility that he’s displayed throughout his career. I’m equally excited for the duo of Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay to team up and offer fans a new, engaging experience. The innovative Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod presentations will be informative and entertaining and play a crucial role in our overall Sunday Night Baseball content offerings. We’re grateful for the collaboration with the YES Network and look forward to starting the 2022 season.”

If the MLB Wild Card Series returns in 2022, the event will be fully exclusive to ESPN platforms and both new commentator teams will contribute to coverage.
Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown, will be on the road in 2022 for a dozen on-site pre-game shows leading into Sunday Night Baseball. Karl Ravech will continue to host Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown on the road. Ravech will be joined by ESPN’s deep roster of MLB analysts and reporters, including Jessica Mendoza, Eduardo Perez, David Cone, Marly Rivera, Doug Glanville, Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian, Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers.

ESPN Radio will air the 2022 Major League Baseball season. Jon “Boog” Sciambi will enter his 13th season as ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play voice. ESPN analyst Doug Glanville will join the ESPN Radio team for his first season as analyst, teaming up with Sciambi. Coverage will also include reports from Marly Rivera, Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian.

The 2022 Sunday Night Baseball schedules for ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes will be announced in the coming weeks.

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College Football Playoff ‘Not Averse’ to Streaming Exclusives in Next TV Deal

“I wouldn’t expect us to stream all of them, but right now nothing’s off the table.”

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College Football Playoff Logo

Football innovation on the field tends to trickle up. What works at lower levels eventually finds its way into the NFL. When it comes to the business side of the game though, things usually go the other way. That could play out in the next television contract for the College Football Playoff.

The consensus is that conferences want multiple television partners involved with the postseason tournament. CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock says he has already received multiple proposals.

Taking a page from the NFL, who announced earlier this year that one of its 2024 playoff games will be exclusive to Peacock, Hancock says that the CFP is open to putting some games behind a paywall on a streaming service.

“Streaming adds another element,” he told ESPN’s Heather Dinich. “We are not averse to streaming some of the games. I wouldn’t expect us to stream all of them, but right now nothing’s off the table.”

Right now, stakeholders have pressed pause on finding a new TV deal. With one of the five power conferences being down to just two teams, the belief is that everyone would be in a better position by waiting to see what becomes of the Pac-12.

Hancock says there is already plenty of interest though. He told Dinich “that five television sent executives to make presentations”. Others have expressed interest, but are yet to make a formal proposal.

This is the final season of the College Football Playoff’s original four-team format. Beginning next season, the field expands to twelve teams. The current TV deal, which makes the CFP an ESPN exclusive, expires after the 2025 season.

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Ryan Leaf: ESPN Could Have Celebrated 2 Teams in Adversity But ‘Chose to Make it a Joke’

“They chose to make it a joke because Washington State and Oregon State unfortunately don’t have a conference.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Ryan Leaf
Courtesy: Houston Chronicle

A joke about last week’s Pac-12 matchup between Oregon State and Washington State on ESPN’s College GameDay didn’t sit well with former Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf.

In the final moments of Saturday’s show live from Notre Dame, the desk was making picks for that day’s games when the Cougars/Beavers matchup came up. Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and guest picker Vince Vaughn all picked the Cougars. It was when it was Lee Corso’s turn to pick that the joke at issue with Leaf came up.

“In the ‘Nobody Wants Us Bowl,'” Corso said alluding to the fact that Oregon State and Washington State are the only two schools in the Pac-12 that have not been invited to join another conference. “Nobody wants them. Poor guys.”

Thursday on Good Morning Football on NFL Network, Leaf followed the lead of Cougars head coach Jake Dickert, who after the game took issue with the joke. Leaf used some time to call out GameDay further for not using the moment about the game to speak positively about the direction both programs were going at this point in the season.

“They’ve always been a show that celebrates college football,” Leaf said. “Instead they chose to make it a joke because Washington State and Oregon State unfortunately don’t have a conference. And it is the ‘No One Wants Us Bowl.'”

Leaf said his love for GameDay and the guys that work on the show hasn’t changed, but he just couldn’t ignore the fact that the show squandered a chance to elevate that matchup on a national stage.

he added.

This isn’t the first time Ryan Leaf has spoken out on the College GameDay crew’s coverage of the game. He and Kirk Herbstreit exchanged barbs on X (formerly Twitter) over the segment on Sunday.

Washington State and Oregon State have banded together as the rest of the conference eroded over the summer. Both university presidents have expressed a commitment to making sure a premiere west coast conference rises from the ashes of the Pac-12.

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Showtime Sports President Won’t Confirm Network is Cutting Boxing Telecasts

“It’s the same rumor we’ve been hearing since 2018, and it’s usually guys who have a rooting interest against us who are spreading it.”

Jordan Bondurant

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As speculation continues to swirl that Showtime will be scaling back boxing coverage in the near future, Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza isn’t divulging any details.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Canelo Alvarez/Jermell Charlo fight on Showtime PPV, Espinoza said word that the Paramount Global network will be getting out of the boxing space has been talked about for several years. The network just continues on.

“It’s the same rumor we’ve been hearing since 2018, and it’s usually guys who have a rooting interest against us who are spreading it,” he said. “You just shrug it off, we continue doing what we’re doing, we weren’t going out of business in 2018 when guys were saying it, our response then was, ‘We’re just going to keep making good fights,’ and that’s what we’re doing now.”

Espinoza has faced questions about Showtime’s future in boxing as his public war of words with UFC president Dana White flared up again this week.

White basically said if boxing on Showtime goes away, he’s not gonna care.

“F–k Espinoza, and it’s about time that shitty product is off the air,” White said.

Stephen fired back in a press conference on Wednesday, turning the focus on where it should be: Canelo’s fight. He pointed out that the fight has already done $20 million in ticket revenue, something White wishes the UFC could pull off.

“That scumbag has absolutely nothing to do with the success of Canelo, Ryan Garcia or Terrence Crawford,” White said. “Those guys are mega stars and they are the ones responsible for driving the gates in their fights. For him to even try and take any credit at all shows you exactly what an arrogant, delusional POS that guy is.”

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