BSM Writers
ESPN, MSG Networks Amongst Sports Media Intensifying Its Influencer Interests
“Sports brands need to meet [Gen Z] where they are, and the best way to do so is through creators who are cultivating highly engaged and niche audiences with authentic, engaging and snackable content,” Gamble said.

Published
6 months agoon
By
Eddie Moran
For decades, sports brands gravitated towards the elite to propel their global reach. Whether they were award-winning musicians or blockbuster movie-stars, celebrities were often given first choice as promoters.
In 2022 however, the sports industry — particularly in media — are turning to aspiring content creators to become digital stars.
On September 15th, ESPN announced the launch of ESPN Creator Network, a program that will provide budding online talent access to the brand’s sports properties. Set to launch in October for roughly four months, ESPN will pick 10 creators to spearhead the nascent initiative, which will be headed by Omar Raja, House of Highlights creator and ESPN’s digital and social commentator.
The ESPN Creator Network will focus primarily on TikTok, where ESPN has become a fan favorite on TikTok. Since launching on the ByteDance-owned app in March 2019, ESPN’s following has attracted roughly 26.4 million followers and 2.1 billion likes.
“What we’re continuing to see from our sports community on social channels increasingly is this gravitation toward first-person, authentic content creation,” Kaitee Daley, ESPN’s vice president of social media, told Front Office Sports.
ESPN’s growing investments in creator and influencer marketing is following in the footsteps of its parent company, The Walt Disney Company. Last May, the media and entertainment conglomerate wrapped up its inaugural session of The Disney Creators Lab, which taught 20 online content creators and influencers how to become better storytellers. The course included several lessons on how to better promote their content on social media as well as business-minded topics like branding, merchandising, creativity and monetization.
“It’s like a lifestyle, essentially when you become an internet creator. And they just taught me how to do all those things,” Melizza Black, one of the 20 participants in The Disney Creators Lab, told Forbes.
Other sports media giants — both digital and traditional — are continuing to invest heavily in creator and influencer marketing efforts.
Days before ESPN’s announcement, MSG Networks revealed the hire of social media personality Jack Settleman as a new digital host. Settleman is known for being the founder of Snapback Sports, which since its inception in 2017 has become the world’s most-followed sports account on Snapchat, attracting more than 2.5 million followers and one billion views.
With MSG Networks, Settleman will be hosting and executive producing Settle Your Bet, a show which will give viewers an entertaining look into the latest sports betting news across the National Football League. Episodes will air on MSG Networks’ YouTube channel every Thursday during the 2022-2023 NFL season.
“Living in New York City, Madison Square Garden has always been the mecca of sports, media and entertainment. I’m so excited to partner with MSG Networks and deliver weekly sports betting content that will tap into the next generation of sports fans,” Settleman said in a statement. “This partnership is a major milestone for Snapback Sports and our whole community of fans across the world.”
Outside of football, Settleman will also be launching several other digital and social media shows, as well as branded content. He’ll also appear across a number of MSG Networks’ linear programs and create exclusive content at select New York Knicks games this upcoming season.
“We’re excited to partner with influential content creator Jack Settleman and develop compelling content to further broaden our reach within the digital space,” Talaya Gaines, vice president of content strategy and original programming at MSG Networks, said in a statement. “Jack has an engaging and authentic personality that will help deepen MSG Networks’ connection with a younger, digital-first audience.”
While legacy media entities like ESPN and MSG Networks have accelerated their creator efforts in the 2020s, Bleacher Report’s House of Highlights brand has been ramping up creator collaborations as far back as 2017, according to Drew Muller, vice president of House of Highlights.
Its earliest work in this space included collaborations with personalities like Sam Grubbs, Kenny Beecham and the Nelk Boys, among others. It also included partnerships with companies like Xbox, Under Armour, Reese’s and Pizza Hut.
More recently, House of Highlights completed its inaugural season of the eponymous Creator League during parent corporation Turner Sports’ Final Four coverage of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in New Orleans. The event pitted influencers from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube against one another in a one-on-one basketball competition on House of Highlights’ YouTube channel.
The Creator League ended its 2022 campaign with 12 of 17 matchups trending in YouTube’s Top 25 Trending list, according to Muller. Both the semifinals and finals matchups saw average viewership of roughly 50,000 concurrent viewers. Overall, the Creator League also logged more than 226 million views and 20 million engagements across House of Highlights’ social media platforms.
The Creator League’s results exemplified House of Highlights’ success not only generating online attention, but revenue as well. According to Muller, revenue from both branded content and House of Highlights’ creator-led content has more than tripled since last year. The sports media brand also generated approximately 35% of its overall revenue from creator-led content, about 25% higher than last year.
As House of Highlights prepares for 2023, Muller envisions more opportunities to expand its live creator competitions and also — along with its competitors — continue to legitimize influencer marketing.
“The fact that other sports media outlets, leagues and organizations have followed our lead only strengthens the space and helps with adoption,” Muller said. “It also serves as further proof that creators are not a ‘trend’ or fad, but instead a core content necessity for any brand or organization trying to have relevance with the next generation of fans.”
Within a week of ESPN and MSG Networks’ creator initiatives, more social media platforms announced campaigns that will reverberate across several industries, including sports.
At its Made on YouTube event on September 20th, YouTube unveiled Creator Music, a new music licensing shop for creators to more easily incorporate commercial music into their videos. Previously, creators were unable to make money off a video if they utilized copyrighted music without a license. With Creator Music, YouTube is hoping to provide a solution that enables creators to use music in videos and receive compensation, and for artists and record labels to still be paid.
Within hours of the Creator Music news, Snapchat announced that 25 Black creators will be participating in its first-ever, annual accelerator program that will provide mentorship and financial support for rising Black creatives. Each member of the Black Creator Accelerator will receive $10,000 monthly which amounts to $120,000 by the end of the year; a Google Pixel 7 Pro that features a Snapchat camera shortcut; and mentorship and workshop opportunities.
“Like other entertainment companies, sports media will inevitably focus more of their attention on Gen Z, which historically has been a challenging demographic to reach,” said Lindsey Gamble, associate director of influencer innovation at Mavrck. As Gen Z logs more minutes onto TikTok and short-form video rivals like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, Gamble believes that this will be a great chance for influencers to connect them with the sports industry.
“Sports brands need to meet [Gen Z] where they are, and the best way to do so is through creators who are cultivating highly engaged and niche audiences with authentic, engaging and snackable content,” Gamble said.

Eddie Moran is a sports media reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, and has previously written for Front Office Sports, The Basketball Tournament, the USGA, and BU’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Free Press. He can be reached on Twitter @EddieMorannn.
BSM Writers
Is There Still a Place for Baseball Talk on National Sports Shows?
“Its struggle has been the same since the beginning of television. There is too much baseball for any regular season baseball game or story to have national significance.”

Published
18 hours agoon
March 29, 2023
Last week at the BSM Summit, I hosted a panel focused on air checks. I wish I could say we covered the topic thoroughly, but we got derailed a lot, and you know what? That is okay. It felt like real air checks that I have been on both sides of in my career.
Rob Parker of The Odd Couple on FOX Sports Radio was the talent. He heard thoughts on his show from his boss, Scott Shapiro, and from his former boss, legendary WFAN programmer Mark Chernoff.
Baseball was the topic that caused one of our derailments on the panel. If you know Rob, you know he is passionate about Major League Baseball. He cited download numbers that show The Odd Couple’s time-shifted audience responds to baseball talk. To him, that proves there is not just room for it on nationally syndicated shows, but that there is a sizable audience that wants it.
Chernoff disagrees. He says baseball is a regional sport. Sure, there are regions that love it and local sports talk stations will dedicate full hours to discussing their home team’s games and roster. National shows need to cast a wide net though, and baseball doesn’t do that.
Personally, I agree with Chernoff. I told Parker on stage that “I hear baseball talk and I am f***ing gone.” The reason for that, I think, is exactly what Chernoff said. I grew up in Alabama (no baseball team). I live in North Carolina (no baseball team). Where baseball is big, it is huge, but it isn’t big in most of the country.
Now, I will add this. I used to LOVE baseball. It is the sport I played in high school. The Yankees’ logo was on the groom’s cake at my wedding. Then I had kids.
Forget 162 games. Even five games didn’t fit into my lifestyle. Maybe somewhere deep down, I still have feelings for the sport, but they are buried by years of neglect and active shunning.
Its struggle has been the same since the beginning of television. There is too much baseball for any regular season baseball game or story to have national significance.
Me, and millions of sports talk listeners like me, look at baseball like a toddler looks at broccoli. You probably aren’t lying when you tell us how much you love it, but damn it! WE WANT CHICKEN FINGERS!
A new Major League Baseball season starts Thursday and I thought this topic was worth exploring. I asked three nationally syndicated hosts to weigh in. When is baseball right for their show and how do they use those conversations? Here is what they had to say.
FREDDIE COLEMAN (Freddie & Fitzsimmons on ESPN Radio) – “MLB can still be talked nationally IF there’s that one player like Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani can attract the casual fan. MLB has definitely become more local because of the absence of that SUPER player and/or villainous team. I wonder if the pace of play will help bring in the younger fans that they need, but the sport NEEDS that defining star that is must-see TV.”
JONAS KNOX (2 Pros & a Cup of Joe on FOX Sports Radio) – “While football is king for me in sports radio, I look at baseball like most other sports. I’m not opposed to talking about it, as long as I have an angle or opinion that I am confident I can deliver in an entertaining manner. A couple of times of any given year, there are stories in baseball that are big picture topics that are obvious national discussions.
“I think it’s my job to never close the door on any topic/discussion (except politics because I don’t know anything about it).
“But also, if I’m going to discuss a localized story in baseball or any other sport for that matter – I better have an entertaining/informed angle on it. Otherwise, I’ve let down the listener and that is unacceptable. If they give you their time, you better not waste it.”
MAGGIE GRAY (Maggie & Perloff on CBS Sports Radio) – “While I was on WFAN there was almost no amount of minutia that was too small when it came to the Mets and Yankees. On Maggie and Perloff, our baseball topics have to be more centered around issues that can be universal. For example, ’Is Shohei Ohtani the face of the sport? Is Ohtani pitching and hitting more impressive than two sport athletes like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders? Do you consider Aaron Judge the single-season homerun king or Barry Bonds?’ Any baseball fan or sports fan can have an opinion about those topics, so we find they get great engagement from our audience.”

Demetri Ravanos is the Assistant Content Director for Barrett Sports Media. He hosts the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas. Previous stops include WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC. You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos and reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
BSM Writers
Who Can Sports Fans Trust Once Twitter Ditches Legacy Verified Blue Checks?
The potential for Twitter chaos after April 1 is looming.

Published
2 days agoon
March 28, 2023
As of April 1, Twitter will finally make a dreaded change that many will view as an April Fools’ prank. Unfortunately, it won’t be a joke to any user who cares about legitimacy and truth.
Last week, Twitter officially announced that verified blue checkmarks will be removed from accounts that have not signed up for a Twitter Blue subscription. Previously, accounts whose identity had been verified were allowed to keep their blue checks when Twitter Blue was implemented.
On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp
— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023
Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…
But shortly after Elon Musk purchased Twitter and became the social media company’s CEO, he stated his intention to use verification as a revenue source. Users would have to pay $8 per month (or $84 annually) for a Twitter Blue subscription and blue checkmark verification. Paying for blue checks immediately set off red flags among users who learned to depend on verified accounts for accredited identities and trusted information.
The entire concept of verification and blue checks was simple and effective. Users and accounts bearing the blue checkmark were legitimate. These people and organizations were who they said they were.
As an example, ESPN’s Adam Schefter has faced criticism for how he framed domestic violence and sexual misconduct involving star NFL players, and deservedly so. But fans and media know Schefter’s tweets are really coming from him because his account is verified.
Furthermore, Twitter took the additional step of clarifying that accounts such as Schefter’s were verified before Twitter Blue was implemented. He didn’t pay eight dollars for that blue checkmark.

The need for verification is never more vital than when fake accounts are created to deceive users. Such accounts will put “Adam Schefter” as their Twitter name, even if their handle is something like “@TuaNeedsHelp.” Or worse, some fake accounts will create a handle with letters that look similar. So “@AdarnSchefter” with an “rn” in place of the “m,” fools some people, especially at a quick glance when people are trying to push news out as fast as possible.
Plenty of baseball fans have been duped over the years by fake accounts using a zero instead of an “o” or a capital “I” instead of a lowercase “l” to resemble Fox Sports and The Athletic reporter Ken Rosenthal. That trick didn’t get me. But when I covered Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report 10 years ago, I did fall for a fake Jim Salisbury account that reported the Philadelphia Phillies traded Hunter Pence to the San Francisco Giants. Capital “I,” not lowercase “l” in “Salisbury.” Pence was, in fact, traded to the Giants two days later, but that didn’t make my goof any less embarrassing. I should’ve looked for the blue checkmark!
But after April 1, that signifier won’t matter. Legacy blue checkmarks will be removed from accounts that haven’t paid for Twitter Blue. Some accounts that were previously verified might purchase a subscription to maintain that blue check. But those that were deemed legitimate prior to Musk taking over Twitter likely won’t. (There are also rumors that Twitter is considering a feature that would allow Twitter Blue subscribers to hide their blue check and avoid revealing that purchase.)
That could be even more true for media organizations, which are being told to pay $1000 per month for verification. Do you think ESPN, the New York Times, or the Washington Post will pay $12,000 for a blue check?
well the new paid checkmarks seem to be working exactly how we all expected pic.twitter.com/4Thk63i9il
— SB Nation (@SBNation) November 9, 2022
We’ve already seen the problems that paying for verification can cause. Shortly after Twitter Blue launched, accounts pretending to be legacy verified users could be created. A fake Adam Schefter account tweeted that the Las Vegas Raiders had fired head coach Josh McDaniels. Users who saw the “Adam Schefter” Twitter name went with the news without looking more closely at the “@AdamSchefterNOT” handle. But there was a blue checkmark next to the name this time!
The same thing occurred with a fake LeBron James account tweeting that the NBA superstar had requested a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. There was a “@KINGJamez” handle, but a “LeBron James” Twitter name with a blue check next to it.
Whether it’s because fans and media have become more discerning or Twitter has done good work cracking down on such fake accounts, there haven’t been many outrageous examples of deliberate deception since last November. But the potential for Twitter chaos after April 1 is looming.
If that seems like an overstatement, it’s a very real possibility that there will be an erosion of trust among Twitter users. Media and fans may have to take a breath before quickly tweeting and retweeting news from accounts that may or may not be credible. False news and phony statements could spread quickly and go viral across social media.
Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023
The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.
Voting in polls will require verification for same reason.
Even worse, Musk has announced that only verified Twitter Blue accounts will be seen in your “For You” timeline as of April 15. (He can’t claim it’s an April Fools’ Day joke on that date.)
Obviously, that carries far more serious real-world implications beyond sports. Forget about a fake Shams Charania account tweeting that Luka Dončić wants to be traded to the Lakers. It’s not difficult to imagine a fake Joe Biden account declaring war on Russia and some people believing it’s true because of the blue checkmark.
We may be nearing the end of Twitter being a reliable news-gathering tool. If the accounts tweeting out news can’t be trusted, where’s the value? Reporters and newsmakers may end up going to other social media platforms to break stories and carry the viability of verification.
When Fox Sports’ website infamously pivoted to video in 2017, Ken Rosenthal posted his MLB reporting on Facebook prior to joining The Athletic. Hello, Instagram. Will someone take their following and reputation to a fledgling platform like Mastodon, Post, Spoutible, or BlueSky, even if it means a lesser outlet?
If and when that happens, Twitter could still be a community but not nearly as much fun. Not when it becomes a matter of trust that breaks up the party.

Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
BSM Writers
There’s a Lesson For Us All in Florida Atlantic’s Elite 8 Broadcast Struggle
“It is a ton of faith our industry has been forced to place in a single mode of delivery.”

Published
2 days agoon
March 28, 2023By
Ryan Brown
Ken LaVicka and Kevin Harlan probably don’t have a ton in common. Both of them were announcing an Elite Eight game over the weekend, that is one thing tying them together, but their experiences were wildly different. Harlan is on CBS with a production crew numbering in the dozens making certain all goes smoothly. LaVicka, the voice of the Florida Atlantic Owls, is a production crew himself, making certain those listening in South Florida heard the Owls punch their Final Four ticket. At least, that was LaVicka’s plan.
The Florida Atlantic Owls are going to the Men’s Final Four. Even while typing that sentence, it still seems odd to say. Do you know how many college basketball teams are thinking “how can Florida Atlantic make the Final Four and we can’t?” These are the types of stories that make the NCAA Tournament what it is. There is, literally, no barrier stopping any team from this tournament going on the run of their life and making it all the way.
Everyone listening in South Florida almost missed the moment it all became real for the Owls. With :18.6 to go in Florida Atlantic’s Elite Eight game against Kansas State, the Madison Square Garden Ethernet service to the front row of media seating went completely dark.
It was on that row that Ken LaVicka was painting the picture back to South Florida. Well, he was until the internet died on him.
Nobody does a single show away from their home studio anymore without trying to avoid the nightmare of Ethernet failure. Gone are the days of phone lines and ISDN connections, all the audio and video is now sent back to the studio over the technological miracle that is the internet. It is a ton of faith our industry has been forced to place in a single mode of delivery.
Take that anxiety and multiply it by 1,000 when that Ethernet line is connected to a Comrex unit for the most important moment of your career. LaVicka had the great fortune of a Kansas State timeout to try something, anything, to save the day. In his quick thinking, he spun around and grabbed an ethernet cable from row two which, as it turns out, still had internet access flowing through it’s cables. That cable, though, was the equivalent of an iPhone charging cord; never as long as you need it to be.
One of LaVicka’s co-workers from ESPN West Palm held the Comrex unit close enough to the second row for the cable to make a connection and the day was saved. LaVicka was able to call the last :15 of the Florida Atlantic win and, presumably, get in all the necessary sponsorship mentions.
It was an exciting end to the FAU v. Kansas State game, a great defensive stop by the Owls to seal the victory. LaVicka told the NCAA’s Andy Katz he tried to channel his inner Jim Nantz to relay that excitement. The NCAA Tournament excitement started early this year. In the very first TV window 13 Seed Furman upset 4 Seed Virginia with a late three pointer by JP Pegues, who had been 0-for-15 from beyond the arc leading up to that shot. It is the type of play the NCAA Tournament is built upon.
It was called in the manner Kevin Harlan’s career was built upon. Harlan, alongside Stan Van Gundy and Dan Bonner, called the Virginia turnover leading to the made Furman basket with his trademark excitement before laying out for the crowd reaction. After a few seconds of crowd excitement he asked his analysts, and the world, “Did we just see what I think we saw? Wow!” Vintage Kevin Harlan.
One reason we are so aware of what Harlan said, and that he signaled his analysts to lay out for the crowd reaction, was a CBS Sports tweet with video of Harlan, Van Gundy and Bonner in a split screen over the play. It gave us a rare look at a pro in the middle of his craft. We got to see that Harlan reacts just like he sounds. The video has more than six million views and has been retweeted more than 6,000 times, a lot of people seem to like it.
Kevin Harlan is not in that group. Harlan appeared on Richard Deitsch’s Sports Media podcast after the video went public and said he was embarrassed by it. Harlan added he “begged” CBS not send the tweet out but to no avail. Harlan told Deitsch “I don’t know that I’m glad that they caught our expression, but I’m glad the game was on the air. I think I join a chorus of other announcers who do not like the camera.”
There’s a valuable announcer lesson from Harlan there; the audience is almost always there for the game, not you. Harlan went on to describe the broadcast booth to Deitsch as somewhat of a sacred place. He would prefer to let his words accompany the video of the action to tell the story. Kevin Harlan is as good as they come at his craft, if he thinks that way, there’s probably great value in that line of thought.
We can learn from LaVicka, as well. You work in this business long enough and you come to accept technical difficulties are as much a part of it as anything. They always seem to strike at the worst times, it is just in their nature. Those who can find a way to deal with them without everything melting down are those who can give their audience what they showed up for. Those who lose their mind and spend time complaining about them during the production simply give the audience information they don’t really care about.
The Final Four is an unlikely collection of teams; Miami, San Diego State, Connecticut and Florida Atlantic. You all had that in your brackets, right? Yep, the Florida Atlantic Owls are going to the Final Four and Ken LaVicka will be there for it. Now, if the internet will just hold out.

Ryan Brown is a columnist for Barrett Sports Media, and a co-host of the popular sports audio/video show ‘The Next Round’ formerly known as JOX Roundtable, which previously aired on WJOX in Birmingham. You can find him on Twitter @RyanBrownLive and follow his show @NextRoundLive.