NBC Officially Unveils Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge as New Big Ten Booth
“With their collective college football experience and great enthusiasm for the game, Todd, Noah and Kathryn join a production team that can’t wait to kick off the Big Ten season.”
It’s officially official: Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and Kathryn Tappen will join the Big Ten on NBC booth when the network begins airing the conference’s football package in 2023.
NBC made the announcement Thursday, after weeks of speculation about the moves.
“We are excited to showcase Big Ten Saturday Night on the NBC Sports’ primetime marquee,” said NBC Sports Executive ProducerSam Flood. “When you hear Todd’s voice, you know it’s a big college football game. It has been that way for decades.
“Noah is one of the industry’s rising young play-by-play commentators, who has excelled calling numerous sports across multiple platforms for a wide range of audiences. We are thrilled to pair him in the booth with Todd.
“Kathryn has told the stories of so many memorable Notre Dame Football moments over the last decade in her on-field reporting and interviews,” Flood continued. “With their collective college football experience and great enthusiasm for the game, Todd, Noah and Kathryn join a production team that can’t wait to kick off the Big Ten season.”
Blackledge joins NBC after working as a college football analyst for the network for the past 17 seasons. Previously, he was the an analyst for CBS and ABC, making 2023 his 30th consecutive season covering college football as an analyst.
Eagle is the son of broadcasting legend Ian Eagle, and currently serves as the radio voice of the Los Angeles Clippers. He comes to NBC after calling college football games for FOX Sports in 2022.
Tappen has spent the past nine seasons working NBC’s college football coverage with Notre Dame. Eight of those nine seasons were spent as the network’s sideline reporter before anchoring the studio coverage from South Bend in 2022.
2023 will mark the beginning of a seven-year contract for NBC to air Big Ten football games in primetime. The move is one of the biggest notable expansions in the college football arena for the network since its partnership with Notre Dame began in 1991.
ESPN has announced its commentary teams for its exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. The network has unveiled 16 commentary pairings that will be utilized for the first weekend of action across the United States. Additionally, it will utilize two teams for studio coverage during the First Four and first and second rounds of the tournament featuring College GameDay host Elle Duncan with analysts Rebecca Lobo and Andraya Carter.
The second studio crew will feature ACC Huddle host Kelsey Riggs with analysts Nikki Fargas and Chiney Ogwumike. During the second weekend of play, Duncan, Carter and Ogwumike will continue providing coverage before traveling to Cleveland for on-site coverage, where they will be joined by Hall of Fame coach Carolyn Peck.
Over the course of the tournament, the SEC Network and ACC Network will provide coverage of the teams from their conferences, and The Pat McAfee Show will broadcast live from the University of Iowa for a special live show on Friday, March 22. WWE superstar and universal champion Roman Reigns is currently scheduled to appear on the program, which is simulcast from 12 to 2 p.m. EST on ESPN, ESPN+ and the program’s official YouTube channel. Its final hour, which lasts from 2 until approximately 3 p.m., is available on ESPN+ and YouTube.
The slate of First Four games begins on Wednesday night when No. 16 Presbyterian plays No. 16 Sacred Heart, which will feature Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the ESPNU broadcast at 7 p.m. EST. Following that game, Jay Alter and Kelly Gramlich will call the action for No. 12 Columbia’s game against No. 12 Vanderbilt, also on ESPNU at 9 p.m. EST.
Games will be televised on ESPN2 Thursday night beginning with a faceoff between No. 11 Arizona and No. 11 Auburn with commentators Pam Ward and Christy Winters-Scott at 7 p.m. EST. First Four action concludes at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2 when Beth Mowins, Stephanie White and Holly Rowe call No. 16 UT Martin vs. No. 16 Holy Cross.
Rowe is part of the Final Four and National Championship commentary team, which also includes play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco and analyst Rebecca Lobo. Furthermore, she will be in Iowa City, Iowa to cover the Iowa Hawkeyes first- and second-round games, the latter of which is dependent on a victory in the former, to continue its coverage of star guard and NCAA basketball all-time scoring leader Caitlin Clark. The full commentary teams as announced by ESPN can be found below:
Showalter previously worked at MLB Network from 2020-21 to provide analysis from a manager’s perspective, and will replace Bo Porter in that role once more.
Former Mets skipper Buck Showalter is returning to MLB Network as an analyst, the network announced today. Showalter will start work in April once the regular season gets underway.
Showalter previously worked at MLB Network from 2020-21 to provide analysis from a manager’s perspective, something Marchand says the network prefers having. Last year’s managerial analyst, Bo Porter, returned to coaching as first-base coach of the Los Angeles Angels. Now, Showalter returns to fill that vacancy, one he also filled on ESPN and the YES Network in previous stops. He’ll join new MLB Network hire Adam Wainright for the 2024 season.
“I enjoyed my time at MLB Network with people I know and respect, so when this opportunity came up, I couldn’t say no,” said Showalter. “There are many ways to analyze baseball, and I appreciate the different perspectives that come with working at the network. We all bring what we bring and it’s very entertaining. The place is filled with smart, passionate people, who want to teach and grow the game, so I’m excited to be back on the team.”
“We loved having Buck with us a couple of years ago given his on-field expertise and years of baseball knowledge,” said Marc Caiafa, MLB Network Senior Vice President of Production. “Having gone up against the new faces and stars of our game, and managing under the new on-field rules, Buck will only make our content stronger this season.”
Jeff Kotuby is a nationally-published journalist with bylines on many popular broadcasting and pop culture sites, including The Streamable, eBaum’s World, Twin Galaxies, and more. Jeff grew up in the shadows of New York City and cultivated his love for sports media with the classic broadcasting voices of the area, like Mike & The Mad Dog, Mike “Doc” Emerick, and Michael Kay. You can reach Jeff on Twitter @JeffKotu3y.
ESPN and the College Football Playoff have officially agreed to extend their ongoing agreement for more years. However, there are no details available on the proposed subleasing of major CFP games as was speculated in the past.
According to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach on X, the media titan and the college football entity finalized a new deal that will pay the CFP $1.3 billion annually starting in 2026. Auerbach also makes note of new revenue models and protections for qualifications.
In February, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand said the two sides agreed to a 6-year, $7.8 billion rights extension. However, news was slow to break on the story. Now, it seems that the deal is finally done, pending official confirmation.
ESPN was keen to keep the CFP for itself, especially because of the record-high viewership numbers it garnered last season. The 2023-24 CFP reached the third-highest viewing audience in its existence, averaging 22.6 million viewers between the two games. NBC was reportedly sniffing around to acquire broadcast rights but will have to wait until this new deal ends.
Jeff Kotuby is a nationally-published journalist with bylines on many popular broadcasting and pop culture sites, including The Streamable, eBaum’s World, Twin Galaxies, and more. Jeff grew up in the shadows of New York City and cultivated his love for sports media with the classic broadcasting voices of the area, like Mike & The Mad Dog, Mike “Doc” Emerick, and Michael Kay. You can reach Jeff on Twitter @JeffKotu3y.