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Mike Francesa Has ‘No Idea’ What He’ll Talk About on First Take

“They’ll tell me today or tomorrow, I guess. Maybe we’ll wing it, I don’t know. You know I have no problem winging it.”

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Mike Francesa

The much anticipated reunion between Mike Francesa and his former co-host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo is set to take place Wednesday on First Take, and the former WFAN host admitted he doesn’t know what topics will be bandied about.

“I am going to do an ESPN visit with Dog and Stephen A. tomorrow. Been planned for awhile. Really, we’ve been talking about this last year,” Francesa said on The Mike Francesa Podcast. “I don’t know what we’re gonna chat about yet. I have no idea. They’ll tell me today or tomorrow, I guess. Maybe we’ll wing it, I don’t know. You know I have no problem winging it.”

The topic came up after an email into the podcast asked Francesa if he stayed in contact with many of his former WFAN colleagues. He admitted he doesn’t chat with as many as he would like to as often as he would like, but there are still several he’ll converse with when topics arise.

“(John) Minko, obviously. I hear from certain guys at certain times, but everybody’s busy. You don’t keep in touch as much as you should, let’s put it that way…I hear from certain guys from time to time. (Marc) Malusis, (Sal) Licata, guys like that from time to time. Sid’s (Rosenberg) always texting me something or other. I do hear from some of them, and you try to keep in touch.”

Francesa’s reunion with Mad Dog will air on First Take on ESPN from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM Wednesday. Russo is a weekly contributor to the show on Wednesdays, with Stephen A. Smith putting a plan in motion to set February 1st as the reunion date during his recent book tour.

At the time of the revelation, Russo marveled at the idea of Francesa appearing on the show with him, pointing out “No other people. The three of us for two hours. Think about that. You talk about me being a fraud, Mike hated ESPN for 100 years!”

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Blue Wire Adding Podcasts Cut During SB Nation Downsizing

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Blue Wire

Blue Wire has announced it is adding three NBA podcasts that were cut during a downsizing by Vox Media that hit SB Nation earlier this year.

Lakers Lounge, hosted by Anthony Irwin, Green With Envy, hosted by Will Weir, Greg Maneikis, and Adam Taylor, and Pod Maverick with Kirk Henderson are all being revived with Blue Wire.

“We’ve built Blue Wire around being able to identify exceptional talent hitting the podcast free agency market,” said Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones. “We were thrilled to act quickly and provide a new home for three standout local NBA podcasts.”

“I’ve known Kevin for years and we’ve often spoken about working together,” Irwin said. “I couldn’t possibly be more excited to add to all the great work Blue Wire has become known for as we finally see years of conversations become a fruitful partnership.” 

The former SB Nation programs that follow the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Dallas Mavericks, respectively, were able to negotiate the ownership of their podcasts with Vox, allowing them to bring their former feeds with them to Blue Wire.

The addition of the three podcasts adds to the company’s growing list of NBA shows. Currently, Blue Wire hosts Road Trippin’ with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, and No Chill with Gilbert Arenas, among others.

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Rob Parker Bringing MLBBro.com Podcast To iHeartRadio

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking project – this sound has never been heard before in connection with Major League Baseball.”

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Rob Parker loves Major League Baseball and he is expanding his reach in the sport. His site MLBBro.com is taking another step forward just weeks after announcing a partnership with the league to provide coverage of minority players from the past and present.

He will add a podcast to the brand’s portfolio. The MLBBro Show Podcast – The Mixtape will join the iHeartRadio podcast lineup. While Parker oversees the brand, the show will be led by MLBbro.com’s Vice President of Operations JR Gamble.

Gamble brings more than two decades of experience covering the league to the show. The first episode drops right after Opening Day on March 31.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking project – this sound has never been heard before in connection with Major League Baseball,” said Parker, who has been a Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) member since 1990.

“It’s baseball coverage with hot sauce, loud and proud and in living color. Get on board from day one!”

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Sports Online

What Implications Would TikTok Ban Have on Sports Media & Business?

“Prominent Democrats have spoken out against banning TikTok in the United States, but the effort has bipartisan support.”

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If TikTok is banned in the United States, a very realistic possibility, the ad market around sports and sports media stands to take a significant hit. Front Office Sports took a look at the companies that used the social video platform to advertise to sports audiences in 2022 and 2023.

Among the advertisers making major investments in TikTok was Degree, whose March Madness advertising campaign includes an ad that is exclusive to TikTok and stars Giannis Antetokounmpo. For the Super Bowl, T-Mobile supplemented its FOX ad buy with a TikTok campaign, while State Farm chose to skip the network broadcast of the game and spend all of its advertising with the digital platform.

It’s not only advertisers. Leagues and networks factor TikTok prominently into reaching younger audiences. The WWE, FIFA and the NBA all saw significant growth in their audiences on the app last year. On top of that, FOX and ESPN both have taken advertising money from TikTok in the past for postseason baseball and college football broadcasts respectively.

Prominent Democrats have spoken out against banning TikTok in the United States, but the effort has bipartisan support. The Biden administration and other lawmakers have voiced concern about the security threat the Chinese government’s involvement with the app poses to Americans and their personal data.

The appeal of TikTok for networks and advertisers is easy to see. Between 2021 and 2022, no social media platform showed more growth for engagement from sports fans. TikTok’s sports audience jumped 65% in that timeframe. Facebook saw 22% growth and for Twitter, it was just 8%.

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