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Vince McMahon Gives Up CEO Duties Amid WWE Misconduct Probe

A statement from WWE says that Vince McMahon will stay involved with “creative content during this period and remains committed to cooperating with the review underway.”

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A photo of Vince McMahon

The WWE is investigating claims of misconduct by CEO Vince McMahon. While that probe is ongoing, McMahon will “step back” from leading the company. A committee inside the company’s board of directors has appointed Stephanie McMahon as interim CEO and chairwoman.

Joe Palazzolo of The Wall Street Journal reports that the board is investigating a $3 million payment that was allegedly made to cover up a consensual affair between McMahon and an employee. John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations for WWE, is also part of the investigation.

A statement from WWE says that Vince McMahon will stay involved with “creative content during this period and remains committed to cooperating with the review underway.”

No information is available regarding how this will affect WWE’s entertainment products. In addition to the weekly live shows, the company is also has scripted series in development as part of a content distribution deal with NBCUniversal and Peacock. McMahon was involved in developing a drama series for the platform alongside FOX Sports reporter Tom Rinaldi.

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Rece Davis: Nick Saban ‘Wants to be Great’ at Being an Analyst

“He was prepared and ready for the moment.”

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Photo of ESPN analyst Nick Saban
Credit: Athlon Sports

The NFL Draft has come and gone, and people are still talking about a couple of the top performers – on the broadcasts. Nick Saban and Bill Belichick both took part in the draft, albeit from much different sides than usual. Belichick had been on the team side, making picks, while Saban was usually waiting to see just how many of his Alabama players would be taken. This year, Saban was with his new team from College GameDay on ABC while Belichick hung out with his buddies from The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN+.

OutKick’s Glenn Guilbeau caught up with Davis this week and got more insight on Saban’s debut as a fulltime member of the show.

“He was sensational,” Davis told OutKick. “I know that’s easy to say, but he’s a gifted communicator in just about any setting in which he’s at. And it’s going to get just better and better and better because he doesn’t mail anything in. He’s not wired that way. He wants to be great at this. He told me that.”

Many of the comments about Saban’s performance have talked about how prepared he seemed to be and how well he knew players that he couldn’t have possibly been focused on while coaching Alabama.

“He was thoroughly prepared, as you might imagine,” Davis said. “He was very curious and wanted to know goals and how we were approaching things…He had done all the reading. He had everything prepared and organized. He did all of that. He was prepared and ready for the moment.”

Most of the time the public had seen Saban previously, he didn’t come off as someone who had a great personality and many wondered if that would hold him, and Belichick, back from being great on television. Davis said that was not the case at all, and several people commented on social media how relaxed Saban looked.

“As important as preparation is, I thought the most important thing he did over those two days was he became more and more comfortable and was willing to let people see more and more of his personality,” Davis said. “He would crack jokes. Little things, one-liners. He really just fit in with us very well.”

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Diamond Sports Group, Comcast Unable to Reach New Carriage Agreement

The development occurs after Diamond Sports Group had reached a multi-year carriage renewal with DirecTV earlier in the week.

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(Illustration) Courtesy: Diamond Sports Group

Diamond Sports Group, the owner of 18 regional sports networks that is currently working to find a path out of Ch. 11 bankruptcy, was unable to reach a new carriage agreement ahead of the Tuesday deadline. As a result, customers subscribing to the service are now unable to watch local teams play on their respective regional sports network(s). In fact, subscribers who try to view the channel on their services now see a message explaining what is taking place. Both companies issued statements explaining the manner that officially materialized upon the expiration of the existing deal.

“It’s disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams,” Diamond Sports Group said in a statement. “Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours.

“We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts, and at this critical juncture for Diamond, we hope that Comcast will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role Diamond and RSNs play in the media ecosystem. In the meantime, fans in Comcast regions can access our networks through subscriptions to Fubo, DirecTV or DirecTV STREAM or through our direct-to-consumer offering, Bally Sports+ for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights.”

“We have been very flexible with Diamond Sports Group for months as they work through their bankruptcy proceedings, providing them with an extension on the Bally Sports Regional Networks last fall and a unilateral right to extend the term for another year, which they opted to not exercise,” Comcast said in a statement. “We’d like to continue carrying their networks, but they have declined multiple offers and now we no longer have the rights to this programming. We will proactively credit our customers for the costs associated with them — most will automatically receive $8 to 10 per month in credits.”

The outcome comes two weeks after a bankruptcy judge had approved a disclosure statement with $450 million of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, $350 million of which is allocated to pay its first-lien debt holders. As part of the restructuring, Amazon is prepared to invest $100 million into Diamond Sports Group while becoming the primary streaming partner for the company. Moreover, the company was approved to hold a creditor vote on reorganization that the bankruptcy court will take into its decision-making process in a decision regarding restructuring. 

Diamond stated in previous court proceedings that 81% of its affiliate revenue comes from distribution agreements with Charter Communications, DirecTV and Comcast. Earlier this month, the company was able to reach a multi-year renewal of its distribution agreement with Charter. This enabled the provider to continue carrying its networks through the Spectrum TV Select Plus package and allows subscribers to stream the network on the Bally Sports app. Additionally, Diamond came to terms on a multi-year carriage renewal with DirecTV as first reported by John Ourand of Puck News on Monday afternoon.

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Josina Anderson Parting Ways with CBS

“I’m amicably moving on to future ventures. I wish all of the talented insiders, anchors, reporters, producers, executives and support staff the best.”

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Josina Anderson
Courtesy: Miikka Skaffari, Getty Images

CBS Senior NFL insider Josina Anderson announced via her X account she has decided to move on from CBS.

“I want to thank the CBS Sports team for my experience and time there,” she wrote. “I’m amicably moving on to future ventures. I wish all of the talented insiders, anchors, reporters, producers, executives and support staff the best.”

Anderson, 45, started at CBS Sports HQ in September 2021. She had parted ways with ESPN in June 2020 after nine years with the network. At ESPN, she was part of the National ESPN Insider team which at the time consisted of Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen, John Clayton, Ed Werder, Adam Caplan and Field Yates.

No word yet on what Anderson has planned for the future. BSM will keep you posed as soon as more information becomes available.

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