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Mike Silver, John Marvel Launch Backstage Media, First-Look Deal with Meadowlark

“We’re excited as longtime journalists, to jump out on our own. We’re doing what a lot of people dream of doing and we’re making it a reality.”

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Former NFL Network reporter Michael Silver has his next media venture lined up. He and former ESPN and NFL Media executive John Marvel are launching Backstage Media, a new content development company.

On Tuesday, Meadowlark Media announced a partnership with Backstage in which the new company will have a multi-year, first-look deal to develop a variety of projects involving sports and pop culture. Several of the projects, including documentary and podcast programming, are already in development, though none are ready to be announced as yet.

In a phone conversation with Barrett Sports Media, Marvel said the time was right for him and Silver to start their own venture after years of working at different companies and media outlets. The two have known each other for more than 30 years, worked together at NFL Media, and talked for a long time about starting their own company.

“Meadowlark is the right place for us to set up our first shingle,” said Marvel. “I worked with John Skipper for a long time at ESPN and there’s no media executive in our business that’s more committed to storytelling than John.” 

Silver left NFL Network last fall when his contract expired. He’s been writing for Bally Sports since then.

“We’re excited as longtime journalists, to jump out on our own,” said Marvel. “We’re doing what a lot of people dream of doing and we’re making it a reality.”

Presumably, breaking out on their own provides the opportunity to tell stories, to utilize the connections formed over decades, that might not have been allowed at larger companies that have working agreements with sports leagues and college athletic conferences. Pairing with another independent media company that didn’t have to cater to those considerations made a partnership with Meadowlark appealing.

“You want somebody that has the sensibility to put out great work. John has that vision,” Marvel added. “His track record is there. And I worked with Dan Le Batard for many years when he was at ESPN. I think our sensibilities are similar as far as a commitment to great storyline, a commitment to great journalism.”

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Fanatics Sportsbook Letting Gamblers Stream NFL Games They Have Money On

“The only condition is that the game must also be available in the bettor’s local market.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Fanatics Sportsbook logo

NFL fans using the Fanatics Sportsbook in four states have the ability to watch the broadcast of some of the games they bet on.

Legal Sports Report writes that users who place at least $1 in wagers on the NFL in the app will get access to the stream of the corresponding bet. The only condition is that the game must also be available in the bettor’s local market.

This feature of the Fanatics Sportsbook app is available in Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and Tennessee, and it’s been available since the start of the regular season.

Fanatics joins Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings and FanDuel as platforms that have agreements with the league’s exclusive rights holder of official NFL data, Genius Sports. These agreements give the sportsbooks the ability to provide live streams.

So far, Caesars is the only other platform with stream access available, but Legal Sports Report noted that DraftKings and FanDuel will likely bring streams online later this season.

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More Than 5000 Attend Barstool Pizzafest Amid Washington Post Controversy

“Everyone had a great time. The vibes were actually probably higher because of the controversy surrounding it.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Barstool Pizza Fest
Courtesy: Barstool

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bearing down on New York City and a wave of buzz surrounding Barstool founder Dave Portnoy in the days leading in, some 5,000 people braved the elements to attend the One Bite Pizza Festival in Brooklyn on Saturday.

Portnoy went viral last week after he posted video of himself calling Washington Post food reporter Emily Heil to confront her and ask why she and the pave had been contacting festival sponsors and asking them how they feel about Portnoy’s past controversies.

Participating pizzerias and sponsors also faced pressure to back out from other food writers and Barstool critics. But Portnoy told FOX & Friends Weekend on Sunday that the festival was a rousing success.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” he said. “It was our Woodstock moment with the rain. We had 5,000 people strong. Everyone had a great time. The vibes were actually probably higher because of the controversy surrounding it.”

Dave added that he owed the pizzerias a debt of gratitude for standing strong against those trying to shame them out of the event.

“The thing about the hit pieces, what they try to do, whether it’s those or the Washington Post, if you can get one sponsor to drop, one pizza place to drop – which none of them did so I owe them a huge thank you – that becomes a story in itself,” he said.

“They don’t deserve this,” Portnoy added. “They’re just trying to promote their small business, and they’re being put in this box.”

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Dave Portnoy: Anyone With ‘Unbiased Mind’ Would Look at Accusations and ‘See There’s Nothing Here’

“I’ve come to grips it’ll never ever change.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Dave Portnoy
Courtesy: Slaven Vlasic, Getty Images

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy opened up Thursday about his viral video confronting Washington Post food reporter Emily Heil, saying that it’s crazy that media outlets continue to come after him with stories and accusations from the past that he says are not rooted in truth.

Portnoy in recent years has been the subject of investigative pieces by outlets that paint a picture of Portnoy as a sexual deviant.

On Barstool Radio on Thursday, Portnoy wished people that continue to bring up these accusations would do a modicum of research.

“There is quite literally, if anybody sat down even for 15 minutes, and went through each accusation from the least important to the most important. Anybody with a clear, unbiased mind would be like, ‘There’s nothing here,'” he said. “That’s the only explanation to come from when you look at both sides. They just don’t look at both sides.”

Portnoy continued his assertion from the phone conversation with Heil that a negative story about him was already written by the Post and that they either had no intention of actually talking to him as evidenced by the cancelled interview Thursday morning, or they planned to reach out after they had formed their narrative talking to sponsors of his One Bite Pizza Festival in Brooklyn on Saturday.

He said it’s par for the course when it comes to journalists and outlets that clearly don’t like Barstool or him.

“I’ve come to grips it’ll never ever change,” he said. “Thats just the way it goes, but it is frustrating when you’re trying to do a f–king pizza event that has nothing to do with anybody and people are trying to destroy it.”

Dave has always said he’s caught flack from folks on both sides of the political spectrum, and that it doesn’t matter whether it’s FOX News, the Washington Post or the New York Times. He felt like they’re all of the same cloth.

“If you want to get a straight spin on a story, where do you go?” Portnoy asked.

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