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Charissa Thompson Details Lambeau Field Banishment From Mike McCarthy

“It made for a funny story, but at the time I thought am I going to be in trouble? But, I didn’t get in trouble.”

Ricky Keeler

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Charissa Thompson Amazon

Next Thursday night, Charissa Thompson will be leading the pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage for Amazon Prime Video’s first NFL regular season game broadcast between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. Being part of launching a new network or broadcast isn’t something that’s uncommon for Thompson over the course of her career. 

Thompson was on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Thursday and she mentioned how she feels lucky to be a part of Amazon’s NFL coverage after she was a part of the first Big Ten Network football game and she was at FS1 when that network launched as well. 

“I feel so lucky. I got to be part of a launch of the Big 10 Network, my first ever game on the air for the Big 10 Network was my first ever sideline game, Michigan-Appalachian State. I remember walking to the car after the fact with Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis and they said where does that rank of all the games you worked? I said this was my first one.

“With FS1, I got to launch that as well. I feel very lucky to have had that experience and now with this unprecedented platform of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football package being the first ever streamer to have rights to the NFL, it’s awesome. I feel so, so grateful. I don’t just say that because that’s what you are supposed to say. I genuinely feel that way….I’m just waiting for them to kick me off this set like I got kicked off the field at Lambeau and say your time is up.”

Yes, you read that right. Thompson was kicked out of Lambeau Field once before by Mike McCarthy before the NFC Championship Game when she was a co-host on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. She got into that story as well: 

“Mike McCarthy had me kicked off the field because I was running routes with Eli Manning doing cartwheels and nonsense…We were out on the field talking about how cold it was and I was trying to stay warm so Eli was like throwing me passes….It made for a funny story, but at the time I thought am I going to be in trouble? But, I didn’t get in trouble. They didn’t scold me after the fact. They were like, did you get the feature? I got the feature.” 

Even though there might be nerves for many people before a big broadcast like Prime Video has upcoming, Thompson says she doesn’t feel nervous with anything she does in the industry because she likes being put in uncomfortable situations.

“I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. I don’t get nervous a lot when it comes to my profession. I think about it like this. Whatever happens, happens. Hopefully, I like to believe that I am prepared and I love live television because I like to react to what happens next. I like being put in uncomfortable, precarious situations and figuring out how I can maneuver out of them or save some of my colleagues as well.

“I think that the adrenaline is similar to playing sports. You get excited right before a tipoff or before you do anything in the athletic space. For me, it’s a matter of preparation and sitting at the desk and knowing that your employers have enough belief in you and don’t screw it up and try not to embarrass yourself or them.” 

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Dave Portnoy: I Trust Penn Entertainment as Much as Ever

“Dave Portnoy is still an employee of Penn Entertainment. However, he has said publicly that he is unsure if the arrangement will continue after his contract expires in 2025.”

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Dave Portnoy may have had some public disagreements with Penn Entertainment, but he says that he still trusts the company to run Barstool. He took to Twitter earlier this week to dispel the myth that he is in a feud with the company.

“By the way everything I say or do nowadays is construed as me having beef with @PENNEntertain I 100% do not. Most of my net worth is still tied to $penn. The corporate woke overlord narrative is bullshit. They woulda never bought us in 1st place if that was true. I trust them now as much as when they bought us.”

Portnoy has not been shy about criticizing the company’s decision to fire Ben Mintz after Mintz said the n-word while reading rap lyrics. Several supporters, including Dana White, noted that it is the kind of decision that only happens when corporations take over creative enterprises.

Earlier this week, Dave Portnoy announced that he had hired Ben Mintz as the first employee of Brick Watch Company. Mintz was emotional in making the announcement. The decision was not made to stick it to Penn Entertainment according to Portnoy. 

Penn first acquired a stake in Barstool in 2020. It invested $163 million at that time for a 36% stake. Earlier this year, it completed its acquisition, investing an addition $388 million for the remaining 62% of the company.

Dave Portnoy is still an employee of Penn Entertainment. However, he has said publicly that he is unsure if the arrangement will continue after his contract expires in 2025.

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Multiple State Regulators Push Back on Effort to Legalize Gambling on WWE

“In March, Alex Sherman of CNBC reported that WWE had meetings with regulators in Colorado and Michigan.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Despite speculation over allowing sports bettors to wager on WWE, there doesn’t appear to be much support at the state level to add it to sportsbook offerings.

Earlier this year, WWE officials had discussions with accounting firm Ernst and Young to secure pre-determined match outcomes in order to allow betting on events. But many states where sports betting is legal have restrictions on wagering on scripted events.

In March, Alex Sherman of CNBC reported that WWE had meetings with regulators in Colorado and Michigan.

“The Colorado Division of Gaming is not currently and has not considered allowing sports betting wagers on WWE matches. By statute, wagers on events with fixed or predicted outcomes or purely by chance are strictly prohibited in Colorado; this includes wagers on the Academy Awards,” Shannon Gray of the Colorado Division of Gaming told Sports Betting Dime.

In Ohio, the same rules apply. The Ohio Casino Control Commission has not fielded any requests to add WWE. Officials in Kansas haven’t received requests either by their residents.

Elsewhere, Maryland sees keeping WWE out of betting offerings as a way to keep the integrity of legal sports betting.

“Maryland’s sports wagering law and regulations prohibit forms of wagering that are contrary to public interest or unfair to bettors,” Seth Elkin of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency added. “We’ve determined that it is unfair to bettors and therefore not in the public’s interest to accept wagers on sports entertainment events that have scripted or predetermined outcomes, like professional wrestling.”

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Former Twitter Sports Boss TJ Adeshola Joins Arctos Partners

“We’ve been fortunate to have TJ as an Operating Advisor for the past three years, and we are thrilled to have him play a larger role as an Operating Partner.”

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Less than two months after TJ Adeshola announced his exit from Twitter, he has resurfaced. Arctos Partners, a firm that he had been advising, named Adeshola an operating partner on Thursday.

In the new role, Adeshola will be much more hands-on with the firm, a private investment company that focuses its investments in the sports world. The firm says it focuses on unlocking “non-obvious opportunities long before others have noticed the market need or opportunity”.

TJ Adeshola’s digital sports marketing expertise will certainly come in handy with that.

“We believe TJ is an innovator in emerging digital and sports media trends, and his wealth of knowledge is a tremendous resource for our Arctos Operating Platform, the value-added capabilities we provide to our franchise partners,” Arctos’s Jordan Solomon said in a press release. “We’ve been fortunate to have TJ as an Operating Advisor for the past three years, and we are thrilled to have him play a larger role as an Operating Partner.”

During his decade with Twitter, Adeshola served as the Head of U.S. Sports Partnerships. His title was Head of Global Content Partnerships at the time of his exit.

He is credited with securing broad strategic partnerships with the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and MLS as well as NASCAR, esports, college, and high school sports. He helped the platform grow the engagement and audience for those entities.

“I’m thrilled to expand my role with Arctos as an Operating Partner,” Adeshola added. “As the first investment firm to invest across multiple North American sports leagues, Arctos is an innovator and disruptor in the sports landscape. And true to form, the Arctos team recognizes the power of digital media as a tool for growth and an opportunity to drive value for its franchise partners.”

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